From the Flames
by LadySafyre
Summary: When Draco Malfoy has a stunning realisation at an extrememly incovenient moment, he needs to work quickly to save the wizarding world from the new rule. Gathering together the shattered remnants of the Order of the Pheonix and several like-minded Death Eaters, can they put aside their past issues and succeed where they previously failed?
1. Prologue

**This is my first venture into the world of Harry Potter fanfiction as a writer. Needless to say, nothing that can be recognised belongs to me.**

 **Prologue – May 2** **nd** **, 1998**

 **Hogwarts**

Draco pounded up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, breathing heavily and struggling to ignore the flashbacks to the last time he'd done this. It was ridiculous – absolutely ridiculous. Here they were, the Order of the Phoenix in full flight with the order given to hunt down and capture any of them left in the castle, and as he raced out of the Great Hall he'd been struck by the sudden realisation that this was wrong. So wrong. In that second, the space of time between one stride and the next, he formed half a plan – an insane plan – and by the time his foot hit the ground again, he'd realised that he needed to keep one of the Order alive. He had stopped at the bottom of the stairs beside Theodore Nott, with Granger disappearing up the way and Ginny Weasley dashing off in the direction of the boathouse, and he'd made a split second decision and raced upwards, leaving Theo to chase down the Weasley girl.

When he finally reached the top of the tower, she was standing in almost exactly the same position as Dumbledore had been, wand out and steady despite the terror on her face. He was almost sick on the spot, but managed to hold himself together long enough to take a few steps towards her, the irritating detached voice in the back of his skull wondering how the hell she'd planned to get out of here.

"I'll jump!" she warned. "One more step and I'll jump! You will not take me alive, Malfoy!" Draco stopped dead and held out a hand.

"Please don't." She paused.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said, please don't. I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't want to hurt me? That's rich! In case you haven't noticed, we've been fighting on opposite sides of a battle for the last day!"

"I am beginning to dispute that, but regardless, now your side has lost and that won't end well for anyone. Your fighters are running, and your core is either captured of being hunted down. Please trust me – you and I can fix this, we just need some time." She was wavering, he could see, her eyes flicking from him to the edge of the tower.

"I'm not going to be executed, I'll jump, I will!"

"I don't fucking want you executed, for Merlin's sake! I'll take you to my home – there's a room you can stay in until we get into a good position to try and turn the tide. No one will know you're there. Come on, Hermione! You surely don't really want to die?" His use of her first name made her waver more than anything else.

"Why? Why me? Why not the others?"

"Because it's you I have here. Potter's going to die; there are no two ways about that. The Lestranges went after Longbottom, so he'll be dead too. Bellatrix will think it's funny. Avery and Dolohov were chasing Weasley, Goyle was after Lovegood and Nott went after the girl Weasley. They're all dead, or as good as, do you understand? I've got you here, and you can either jump, or you can let me take you to safety and come back and tell them you jumped. What's it to be?" She blinked rapidly several times, seemingly trying to process the situation, and he sighed in frustration. "For fucks sake Granger, if you want to die get it over with! If not, give me your fucking hand!" Hermione closed her eyes, took a step towards the edge – and then spun around and grabbed his hand. Instantly, Draco apparated them to his private suite at the manor, waved his wand over a section of wall and pushed her inside the doorway that appeared, then apparated back to Hogwarts, thanking his stars that the wards had been taken down. He estimated that the entire procedure had taken barely longer than a minute, and took the time to straighten his hair and robes and take a deep, calming breath.

"Here goes," he said out loud to the empty tower, and then looked back at the spot where Albus Dumbledore had stood at the end. "I hope you appreciate this, you doddering old fool. This is how it should have been done all along!" There was a scream from below, and he hurried back down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, heading for the Great Hall.

The Dark Lord was standing on the dais, surveying his followers when the last few – those tasked with chasing down the leaders of Dumbledore's Army and Potter's gang – came in. Bellatrix had her wand on Neville Longbottom, controlling him with what Draco suspected was a skilfully judged imperious curse, given the panic in the boy's eyes and the fact that despite his struggling, his feet continued to march him forward. Goyle was dragging Luna Lovegood behind him by her long blond hair and Potter and Weasley were both being bodily dragged into the hall. Theo's hands were empty, his face blank – but then, Theo's face was always blank now.

The four most important prisoners were pushed to their knees in the centre of the hall: Potter and Weasley heads up, eyes flashing and defiant to the last, Longbottom looking nothing more or less than furiously angry and Lovegood staring off to the side, seemingly uninterested in anything. Draco took his place to one side as several newer death eaters under the command of Goyle's father ushered in the rest of the prisoners. The group was not as large as it should be. Several of the Order were dead, he knew that, and others had fled when the tide of the battle turned. Hopefully they were planning to fight again, rather than to give up. Draco's half-formed plan had no space for cowards. He drew his attention back to the Dark Lord, who was celebrating the capture of the four young people on the floor in front of him.

"Draco! Draco, where is the mudblood?" Draco stepped forward and knelt, his eyes lowered respectfully.

"Dead, my Lord," he said clearly, ignoring Weasley's howl of rage from the middle of the hall and seeing Potter flinch out of the corner of his eye. "Threw herself off the Astronomy Tower rather than be captured. I would have brought you the body, but one of the Acromantula got to it before I did. I apologise most humbly, my Lord." The Dark Lord frowned.

"And the blood-traitor, Theodore?" Theo mimicked Draco's position on the opposite side of the hall.

"Also dead, my Lord," he said simply, offering no further explanation. The Dark Lord did not seem to desire one, and Weasley's howls rose until someone flicked a silencing charm at him. From his bent position, Draco could see Potter trembling almost uncontrollably.

"I am disappointed in you both," the Dark Lord said grimly. "I will need to find a task suitable for your failure. Perhaps… perhaps you should be tasked with hunting down the rest of the losing side. Yes, that seems appropriate, doesn't it? Establish a list of the missing, track them down, and bring me news of their deaths once you find them – proof, if you can manage it. I will allow you to be creative with the manner of their demise, proof will not always be required." The two kneeling boys nodded.

"Yes, my Lord," they replied in unison, before rising to their feet and resuming their positions. Draco met Theo's eyes as the Dark Lord called Goyle forward. Theo's face was still inscrutable. Draco raised his eyebrows a miniscule fraction and Theo blinked once, slowly. Draco's attention was drawn back the centre of the floor however, where Lovegood had just been handed to Goyle as a prize for succeeding where Draco and Theo had failed. The Dark Lord did not wish to spill pure blood, it seemed, with certain exceptions.

"And now for you three," he said, sounding almost pleased. "Longbottom, you killed my snake. For that, boy, you die – although I regret the necessity. Bella, would you like to finish off the Longbottom line? I know how much you enjoyed your last encounter with them." Bellatrix laughed as she stepped forwards, her wand held out, and with little ceremony applied a powerful cutting curse to Longbottom's neck. Draco tensed to stop himself shuddering as blood fountained across the room, Longbottom's head falling to the floor with a sickening thump and rolling to where Potter knelt beside the newest corpse. The Dark Lord smiled.

"Excellently done, Bella," he said. Bellatrix preened under the praise as he turned his attention to the last two and drew his wand. Draco waited for the killing curse, but it did not come. Instead, the Dark Lord pointed his wand at Weasley and said, "Imperio!"

Under the curse, Weasley rose to his feet and approached the Dark Lord, who inspected him closely.

"I have no wish to spill more pure blood," he stated clearly. "And the Weasleys, despite their beliefs, are pure of blood. Your crime, boy, is loyalty to the wrong person. Allow me to demonstrate why I am more worthy of your loyalty. Draw your wand." Weasley seemed to be struggling to resist the curse, but Draco had clear memories of fourth year and the boy had no aptitude for it at all. Sure enough, his unwilling hand drew his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Potter, who only now seemed to realise what was going to happen.

"It's ok, Ron," he said calmly. "It's ok." There were a few second's pause and then Weasley's voice rang out in the now silent Hall.

"Avada Kedavra!"

As Potter's body slumped and fell beside Longbottom's, and screams and cries rose from the remaining prisoners at the back of the room, Draco leaned against the wall and met Theo's eyes again across the hall. The other boy looked expressionless again, regarding the bodies with a dispassionate air before looking back at Draco. At the front of the hall, the Dark Lord lifted the Imperius curse and Ron Weasley fell to his knees, crying openly. The Dark Lord surveyed him with amusement for a few seconds, and then waved his wand again, conjuring a cage around the distraught boy. Another wave of his wand, and the cage drifted over beside the chair that had formerly been occupied by the Hogwarts headteachers. Draco felt slightly sick as he realised that his classmate – Potter's right hand man, and the best strategic brain the light had – was now reduced to a situation he'd seen before; essentially, the Dark Lord's pet. A hand slipped into his and he looked down to see Pansy Parkinson standing beside him, trying her best to hide her horror.

"Keep it together, Pansy," he muttered warningly. She nodded as the Dark Lord took his seat and, with the four most important prisoners disposed of, began calling the others forward one at a time from the back of the Hall. Draco zoned out slightly as time went on. A stir arose when the Dark Lord complimented Percy Weasley on his work at the ministry and offered him the chance to take the Dark Mark. Screams rose from the other Weasley's still in the hall, including Ron, as Percy nodded grimly and was sent to join the ranks at the side of the hall. He was the only one to accept the offer to switch sides, though the offer was made to all the purebloods. Most, on refusing, were dragged off to be imprisoned somewhere. The oldest Weasley boy was killed on the spot, together with his Veela wife. The muggleborns and halfbloods were killed outright or handed off to any of the Death Eaters who wanted them. Draco paid little attention to this until Walden MacNair dragged forward the next victim and he felt his stomach lurch. Katie Bell. Katie, who he'd played Quidditch against, who he'd almost killed during his sixth year, who stood there proudly in the centre of the hall in a puddle of Longbottom's blood, head up and eyes flashing.

"Anyone?" the Dark Lord asked lazily, when there was no immediate volunteer. Without conscious thought, Draco shook off Pansy and stepped forward. The Dark Lord looked at him. "You, Draco?"

"If it pleases you, my Lord," Draco murmured deferentially.

"If you wish a plaything, Draco, you may have her. Take her!" If anything, Katie looked more horrified now than she had when she'd been facing death. Draco dragged her to his side and resumed his position while Theo, seemingly following his lead, stepped forward and claimed Hannah Abbott who seemed to be broken already. Vaguely, Draco remembered that she'd been involved with Longbottom. Beside him, Katie let out a sob. Draco grabbed her hair and pushed her to her knees.

"Shut up, and don't draw any attention to us," he muttered, leaning close to her ear and hoping that she was a better actress than Granger. Thankfully, it seemed she was. Katie pushed him away with a disgusted expression on her face, but she didn't make any more noise and knelt obediently by his feet. He smirked as he resumed his position standing beside her. The Dark Lord was still talking.

"Now, with our prisoners dealt with and disposed of as necessary, my Death Eaters, let us go forward and revel in our victory! Harry Potter is dead, dead by the hand of his own side, and our victory is assured! I will expect you all at a revel in the manor in one week to celebrate. Lucius, I presume I can rely on you to provide the usual entertainment.

"As my Lord wills," Lucius Malfoy said dryly.

"Excellent. More instructions will be forthcoming to some of you in due course. Draco and Theodore, I hope to hear of success in your mission soon."

"Yes, my Lord," Draco replied. Theo echoed him. As the gathering began disapparating around them, the two boys met in the middle of the hall, each with their prisoner in tow. "Meet at mine tomorrow," Draco said briefly. Theo nodded once, before disapparating with Hannah. Holding Katie's arm firmly, Draco followed suit.


	2. Chapter 1

**Thank you very much, all those who read the previous part. I hope you enjoyed it. Onwards to Chapter One! Again, I claim nothing that is recognisable.**

 **Chapter One**

 **May 2** **nd** **, 1998**

 **Malfoy Manor**

Hermione looked around the room she'd been pushed inside in confusion. It was a small, but perfectly functional bedroom containing a bed, desk, bookshelf and a chest of drawers. A door standing ajar against the side wall appeared to lead to a small bathroom. The décor was classy, in fashionable neutral colours, the bookshelf on inspection proved to contain a tempting mix of muggle and wizarding classics, and the small window looked out over perfectly manicured parkland. Hermione blinked several times, utterly confused, and then jumped violently and pulled out her wand as a loud crack sounded behind her.

"Please, Madam Visitor, do not kill Miffie!" squeaked a house elf urgently, throwing itself face down on the floor as it spoke. Hermione lowered her wand.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You is in Master Draco's secret room," the little elf explained, seeming calmer now she was no longer under threat. "Master Draco prepared it and told Miffie that if he ever brought someone here and left them, Miffie was to come and help them. And, Madam Visitor, if you do not mind Miffie saying so, you is looking like you needs help."

"I am not a visitor!" Hermione argued. "Your precious Master Draco captured me! I'm his prisoner, not his visitor!" The elf shook her head firmly, while inspecting Hermione closely.

"If you is a prisoner, you is in the dungeons," she said, in the manner of someone explaining something to someone very young. "This is not the dungeons; this is Master Draco's secret room. Anyone is here is visitor!"

"And how many 'visitors' have you entertained here?" Hermione asked, sarcastically. It appeared to be wasted on the elf.

"You is first," she replied simply. "Master Draco is not having many visitors at all now. Miss Pansy and Master Theo and Master Blaise once, but now Miss Pansy stays away and Master Blaise is gone and Master Theo is sad… so sad. Miffie does not like to see Master Theo so sad."

"I thought he was going to kill me," Hermione said wonderingly. This seemed to be becoming increasingly unlikely. The elf snorted.

"Master Draco? Master Draco is not killing people. Master Draco is probably plotting again. Miffie worries when Master Draco plots. Come, Madam Visitor, Miffie will prepare a bath. And food. And find some new clothes," she added, wrinkling her nose at Hermione's tattered and dirty jeans and jumper as she shooed her into the bathroom. "Master Draco will be back soon, he will," Miffie said with certainty. Hermione wished with all her heart that she found this as reassuring an idea as the house elf clearly did.

She showered at length, scrubbing the mud, blood and dust out of her hair and watching the dirty water wash away. Her brain was filled with images of Harry and Ron, and at one point she found herself crying in despair. She was sure, as Draco had said, that both would be dead by the end of the night. Finally, after staying under the hot water for so long that she'd lost track of time, she switched off the water and emerged to find a neat pile of plain but functional clothes lying on the bed. After Miffie's close inspection, she was unsurprised to find they were a perfect fit. Dressing quickly to combat the chill, she was just ready when she heard the crack of apparition from outside her little room and froze, suddenly terrified.

"Granger, get out here!" Draco called lazily. Clutching her wand firmly, Hermione emerged slowly and then threw herself on the floor beside the sobbing Katie.

"Katie? Oh my God, what are you doing here?" The two girls clung to each other, and Draco gave an exasperated sigh. They ignored him.

"Harry? Ron?" Hermione gasped. Katie burst into fresh tears, and Hermione joined her, drawing her own conclusions.

"Potter's dead," Draco said bluntly, while casting silencing spells on the room. "Weasley… well, I never thought I'd say it, but poor bastard. The Dark Lord is keeping him as a pet, essentially, to await his pleasure. You'd be as well considering him dead too." There was a fresh outburst of sobbing as the two women clung to each other. "Fucking hell... OK, enough of the cuddly stuff, you're Gryffindors, not Hufflepuffs. Get it together, we don't have much time. Now, should I take it as read that neither of you are overly happy with the way things have played out today?" Both girls gave him incredulous looks, Katie's slightly spoiled by the fact that she was still crying. Hermione was fairly sure that after the last few days and the outburst she'd just had, she had no tears left.

"Oh no, Malfoy, we're just delighted," Hermione finally snapped, when he continued waiting. "We really wanted to end up as your prisoners, and you know how much I loved my last visit to your home!"

"Can you stop that?" he demanded. "I'm on your side, for fuck's sake!"

"Forgive me for being sceptical," Katie put in bitterly. "You tried to kill me, you bastard!"

"No, I tried to kill Dumbledore," Draco said impatiently. "Not very well, I admit, but I did not try to kill you. Look, to put this bluntly since you're a pair of idiot Gryffindors, I want to re-form the resistance, just this time with a bit of Slytherin cunning and intelligence in it."

"We had intelligence!" Hermione snapped angrily.

"And we don't need fucking Slytherins!" Katie agreed.

"Forgive me for mentioning it, ladies, but I would say that you most definitely do need Slytherins," Draco said calmly. "Yes, Granger, you're smart. But you're more or less it, among the remaining leaders of the Order. I'm as smart as you are,"

"Almost," Hermione corrected.

"And so is Theo Nott, who I am almost positive has Ginny Weasley stashed away somewhere," Draco concluded, ignoring this.

"He said Ginny was dead!" Katie argued. Draco rolled his eyes.

"What did I say about needing intelligence? I said Granger was dead, and here she is. We lied. At least, I lied, and I'm fairly sure Theo did. As sure as anyone can be able anything with Theo. He's always been a dark horse and he's not getting any better with age and circumstance."

"I don't know much about Theo," Hermione admitted. "I remember he was in most of my classes with me. Small, dark, quiet, sat at the back. Why do you think he's defected other than the fact that he reported Ginny dead? She might actually just be dead. She'd be far from the only one." She swallowed hard to stop herself crying.

"For that matter, how do we know you have?" Katie demanded.

"You don't," he replied simply. "With Theo… well, I'm not telling you anything, it's his business. But trust me when I say that he's by far the most likely of us to defect. Pansy's a possibility too, and I'm not completely convinced of Goyle's loyalty either."

"Pansy Parkinson was trying to sell Harry out to You-Know-Who just hours ago!" Katie protested. Draco waved this away.

"Pansy's a coward, always has been. But essentially – and I know you don't believe this Granger – she's a good person. She shouldn't be a Death Eater."

"Bollocks," Hermione replied, deciding that some rudeness was excusable, given the circumstances. Draco sighed.

"She's a bully and a snob and she was nasty to you, yes, I know. But she's not bad. Anyway, she's also not involved at the moment."

"So your plan is that the three of us can take down You-Know-Who?" Katie looked almost amused. "Where do we start? Charge downstairs, wands out, and start cursing?"

"Don't be silly," Hermione said thoughtfully. "We'd have plenty of intelligence, I'm beginning to suspect Malfoy is as good a strategist as Ron, but we don't have anything like enough fighters. We'd have to do some sort of recruitment, which would be a challenge given that I'm dead and you're technically a slave, so we'd be relying on Malfoy... am I on the right lines?" she asked the blond. He raised an eyebrow.

"So you're in?"

"Hermione, you can't be! This is Draco Malfoy, for Merlin's sake!"

"Katie, we haven't got any choice. He's got us backed into a corner! If we say no, he either hands me over to Riddle and… well…"

"She means that if you say no, I'll have her killed and rape you until you beg for mercy. She's not exactly employing that famous intelligence – I told the Dark Lord you were dead, Granger, and that your body had been eaten by an acromantula. I'd be dead in seconds if I turned up alive with you now. As to raping Bell… I don't want to be offensive, but you're not exactly my type and frankly, even if you were, Weasley twin leftovers do not appeal."

"Likewise," Katie murmured. "Hermione, are you joining him?" There was a long pause.

"I am," Hermione said eventually. "I owe it to Harry and Ron to keep the fight going. Harry didn't die for nothing!"

"Very inspiring, Granger…"

"Hermione," she said firmly. "If we're working together, I need to distance you from the bullying arsehole I went to school with. You calling me Hermione will help that."

"If you say so. Bell?"

"Then I am too," Katie said, sounding resigned and ignoring the end of the previous conversation. "Where do we start?"

"We start with going to bed. Theo will be here in the morning and I'll sound him out then. Granger, you're supposed to be dead, you have your room. Don't come out it unless you're sure there's no one here but me and Bell. Bell, you're supposed to be my sex slave, you'll have to sleep with me."

"I can't wait," Katie sighed, as Draco stood back and ushered her before him into the bedroom.

 **Hogwarts**

As the last of the Death Eaters disapparated from the Great Hall, taking the prisoners with them, the Hogwarts staff stared at each other in shocked silence.

"As long as you are employed to pass magical knowledge onto our deserving young people, your lives will be spared," Voldemort said. "I suggest that you begin work on clearing the castle. Students will be returning to you in due course, and you must be ready for them. It would be terrible if our beautiful school was portrayed as anything other than its' usual immaculate self. Let me see… it would be rude of me to disturb any of the gentlemen who have new… brides… with them. Miss Parkinson, I think," he said. There were a few seconds pause and then, with a crack, Pansy appeared in the middle of the hall and knelt.

"My Lord?" she asked nervously.

"Oversee the clear up for this evening please, Miss Parkinson. I expect at least this hall to be cleared by tomorrow morning."

"Yes, My Lord," Pansy replied. He smiled at her, and then disappeared silently. Pansy rose to her feet and surveyed the group who had, until earlier that day, been responsible for teaching her magic.

"We'd best get moving," she said, attempting to sound cold. "It won't go well for any of us if this is not cleared up by tomorrow." She strongly suspected from the sympathetic glance that McGonagall gave her that her attempt had failed. "Wait!" Pansy snapped. "Where's Potter's body? Did someone move it already?" There was a general murmur of dissent. "Then where is it?" she demanded, sounding frantic.

"Maybe someone took it back to your headquarters for the… celebration?" Professor Sinestra asked, her face twisting with distaste. Pansy paused.

"Maybe…?" she said hesitantly. "Clean up the rest anyway. I'll find out about Potter."

She seated herself on a bench that had previously graced the Slytherin table and stared uncomfortably at the patch of floor where Harry Potter had lay, dead, a short time before. She shivered as a breeze brushed past her and pulled her cloak more securely around her shoulders, watching as Hagrid, crying bitterly, picked up the body of Neville Longbottom and carried him outside.

"Regretting your side, Miss Parkinson?" a dry voice behind her asked. She turned, to find Professor McGonagall directing stones back into the castle wall with her wand.

"No," Pansy said sharply. The elderly professor raised her eyebrows. "The Dark Lord will restore the wizarding world to greatness," Pansy parroted.

"I see. I'll just carry on then," her former teacher said, sounding bored. "It's a shame, really. You had much more potential than you are showing now, Miss Parkinson. I wish you luck should you decide to show it in the future, as I am sure the rest of the faculty would too."

 **Nott Hall**

Theo opened the door and ushered the trembling Hannah inside.

"I live alone. You're safe," he said simply, leading her up the stairs. Ginny Weasley was standing in the centre of the room that he'd put her in earlier, eyes flashing and wand out. She spun as the door opened.

"I don't know what… Merlin, Hannah!" she hurried to her friend, throwing her arms around the shaking girl. "What happened?" she demanded, her eyes on Theo. He swallowed uncomfortably, suddenly aware that he'd managed to end up saving the girlfriends of the two men he'd just watched die. Ginny twisted until her wand was pointed at him. "I swear, Nott, you'd better start talking!"

"Potter is… dead," Theo admitted reluctantly. Ginny paled, but remained firm, her wand steady.

"And?" she said.

"Longbottom…" Theo said, pointing awkwardly towards Hannah who was sobbing outright. Ginny tightened her grip.

"I don't know what your fucking plan is here, Nott, but I still have my wand and I'll hex your fucking balls off before you lay a finger on either of us, am I clear? You leave us the fuck alone!" she almost screamed.

"I don't want to…" Theo began, and then dodged as she sent a stunner directly at his head. "I'm not trying to…" he began again, before having to dive out the door to dodge the next spell.

"Just leave us the fuck alone!" Ginny screamed again, sounding like she was verging on hysterical. Theo accepted defeat and sat down outside the door as the sounds of devastated sobbing broke out inside, wondering for the first time if the instinctive plan he'd half formed as he cornered Ginny Weasley was anything other than utterly suicidal. Worse, somehow he had to face Draco tomorrow and pretend that he was fully in favour of hunting down the rest of the people who, he now realised, he'd much rather had won. He sat silently in the hallway for what seemed like hours until the sobbing finally stopped and the house descended into silence. Not wanting to leave his post – not wanting them to wake up and think they were alone – and wondering if he would do any good anyway when they did wake, Theo leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

 **I do love Miffie.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Thanks again for reading. I own nothing that can be recognised.**

 **3** **rd** **May 1998**

 **Nott Hall**

Theo was woken the following morning by the sound of the door creaking open. Ginny Weasley stuck her head out, and regarded him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

"Have you been there all night?" she asked, her voice thick with tears and sleep. Theo just nodded, wishing frantically for Draco or Blaise's skill with witches. His own habit of staring silently at them, unable to decide what to say, was unlikely to score him any points with the frankly terrifying Gryffindor who now faced him. Ginny's lip curled. "You are a creepy fucking bastard, Nott," she said coldly.

"I… wanted to make sure you were ok," he managed. "And to make sure I was here if you needed anything. I don't have a house elf, so…"

"Don't pretend you care," Ginny spat back at him. "Which of us are you planning to have first? Hannah managed to tell me that they'd given the prisoners out like sweets to you all. I will defend us both, I warn you, if you try to lay even one finger on us! I'm not defenceless; you left me my wand…"

"Will you please shut up?" Theo demanded, gathering all his courage at this accusation, unwanted images and memories swirling around in his head. Ginny gaped at him, her face slowly turning red. "I am a lot of things, but I am not a fucking rapist, ok? I don't want that, and it's not why I fucking saved you."

"S-saved us?" Ginny stammered, stunned by this sudden change in behaviour.

"Saved you," Theo confirmed. "You remember – I had orders to bring you back to the Great Hall, and I brought you here instead. Do you know what happens to those who disobey the Dark Lord's orders, Ginny? Did Hannah tell you what happened to your brother?" Ginny shook her head. "The Dark Lord put him under the imperious curse him, and made him kill Potter, that's what happened. And now he's locked in a cage, the Dark Lord's pet pureblood," the colour was draining out of Ginny's face. "If I hadn't brought you here, if I hadn't put my fucking life on the line to go back and lie to him and tell him you were dead, he'd have a matching set of pet fucking Weasley's. And believe me, the way he'd treat you would make what you thought I was planning look kind. Now, I presume you were leaving the room for a reason?"

"I was going to the bathroom," Ginny admitted. Theo nodded.

"Three doors down. There are clean towels and things in there if you want to shower. I'll find you something to put on, I have no idea what. Bringing you here was a bit of an impulse decision. I'm not exactly set up for guests, particularly female ones."

"Nott?"

"Theo," Theo corrected. "Nott was my father."

"Theo then. Ron is… Ron is still alive?"

"The last I knew, yes. I've seen him do this before, though normally with muggles. Weasley is safe until he gets bored. I'll get you those clothes."

"Theo?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks… for saving me. And I'm sorry I attacked last night. I honestly thought you were… I'm sorry." Theo froze, and then nodded once, slowly, before disappearing into his bedroom.

 **Malfoy Manor**

Theo's footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as he strode through Malfoy Manor later that morning; confident, assured and deliberate. It was important here, in the heart of the Dark Lord's command, to sound like all three characteristics applied even if he was feeling none of them. To show weakness was to die, after all. From below came screams and laughter; it seemed the celebrations for Potter's defeat were ongoing. He shuddered internally at the noise, wondering if it was his classmates who were providing the euphemistically named 'entertainment'. He reached his destination and let himself into the room, Draco immediately silencing and locking the door behind him. That, in itself, was unusual enough to cause Theo to draw his wand.

"You won't need that, don't worry. We just require privacy." His old schoolmate lounged in an armchair in front of the fire, twirling his wand in his fingers. He regarded him calmly and indicated the other seat.

"Draco," he said in greeting as he sat down. Draco Malfoy inclined his head in return.

"Theo."

"What did you want?" There was a long pause, during which Theo began to grow impatient. He resented being summoned to Malfoy Manor at any time, particularly for such a distasteful job, and was anxious for Draco to get the meeting over with. "Well?" he prompted, when it didn't seem likely that Draco was going to speak. "I presume we need a plan to tackle this punishment, do you have any ideas?"

"Have you ever considered," Draco began slowly, "What would have happened if we hadn't won yesterday?" The question took Theo by surprise, and caused him to wonder on the cause of this meeting. Draco looked calm, yes, but his breathing was quick and he had yet to put his wand down. A suspicion crept into Theo's mind.

"We'd be in Azkaban," he replied to the original question, mentally settling himself in to give nothing away. Draco didn't seem inclined to be brief and, after all, outright asking the man if he intended to spearhead a resistance had at least a fifty percent chance of having him killed on the spot. "Within a month, we'd be gibbering, cowering messes crouched in our own filth," he added, to distract the other boy. It worked. Draco made a face at the graphic imagery.

"Yes… And instead, the Dark Lord has handed over the task of rounding up the remaining Order and Dumbledore's Army members to you and me. Judging by your comment before, you know as well as I do that this is a punishment for failing to bring in Granger and Weasley. If we fail, we can expect something worse."

"Yes."

"How do you feel about doing that?"

"How do I feel about hunting down the Order and…"

"In theory, either killing them or consigning them to Azkaban. Now that the Dementors are back in residence and the wards have been updated, it's impregnable."

"In theory?" Theo asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral.

"Well, yes. I mean, we could also capture them instead, take them to a warded safe house, let them return to full strength and then join them as they storm the manor with the bonus of our inside knowledge ensuring that we put an end to all this once and for all."

"Now, that is an idea," Theo said slowly. Draco exhaled sharply, the only sign of his relief as his expression remained perfectly impassive.

"You're not happy either." The words were so quiet Theo wasn't sure he'd even heard them. "I did have an idea, but it needs your help. If we manage it… we can change things. If not… we die."

"We could die at any moment anyway," Theo replied. "It would be less than prudent to refer to our Lord as a raging psychopath, and I am nothing if not a prudent man." Draco smirked.

"Indeed you are, Theo, indeed you are. Are you in?"

"What do I get out of it?"

"Well, the answer you're expecting me to give is power. We'd undoubtedly have more of it in an administration in which we had such a major part in its formation. We'd have the opportunity to wield that power without being subject to the whims of anyone else. And of course, hypothetically speaking, we'd no longer be bound to our great Lord who we have served devotedly since our fathers offered us as a bargaining chip when we were sixteen. So as well as power, we'd gain freedom." Theo considered this for a long minute.

"I'm in." Draco smiled – a genuine smile.

"Well, that certainly saves me a difficult and hard to explain obliviation. Now, I suggest we collect the ladies I have here and relocate to your house which, if I'm not mistaken, is under a complex Fidelius charm already. Am I safe in presuming that Miss Abbot and Miss Weasley are in residence?"

"My father did take home security to a new level," Theo agreed. "We'll need to make some changes before we can go anywhere, but yes, they are there and safe. I think I was in more danger than they were." Draco nodded thoughtfully.

"I've duelled the Weasley girl, you probably were. What happened?"

"I dodged," Theo replied grimly.

"Lucky for us," Draco said, opening the door to his bedroom. "Granger, Bell, come on. Theo's on board and we're going to move you Nott Hall. I don't think keeping you here is at all sensible, given the other house guests. I'm going to tell my mother that I'll be moving in with Theo for a while, because he's finding living alone hard after… everything that's happened," he finished vaguely as he caught Theo's eye. "You mentioned something about changes, Theo?" Theo nodded a polite hello to both girls who regarded him with suspicion but nodded back, and then cleared his throat.

"My father warded Nott Hall under his own complex variation of the fidelious charm," he began, trying to force confidence that he didn't feel into his voice as he addressed the two relative strangers as well as Draco. "The principle remains the same, in that the house is hidden from view until the secret is imparted by the secret keeper, but unless someone is recognised by the charm the details of the secret will be immediately removed from their memory on leaving. They are thus unable to pass the secret on to anyone else. I am going to suggest that we change the wording of the secret now, as frankly it's still as my father set it and it's obnoxious, to say the least. Any suggestions?"

"The phoenix is rising," Hermione said quietly. Draco rolled his eyes. Theo looked confused.

"We were the Order of the Phoenix," she said. "If we include that in the secret, anyone who was previously a member will be reassured when you tell them. It might make life a little easier for you."

"It's a good point," Theo said. Hermione smiled at him, and he felt his face heat up. Cursing internally, he turned away. "I need to go back to the Hall to change the charm. I'll floo back, Draco, if you open your floo."

"Don't be long then, it's closed for a reason. Ladies, if Theo's leaving the floo open you'd better leave again, just in case someone comes through. Theo, you have no house elves any more, do you?"

"No," Theo said briefly. Draco nodded.

"Miffie!" The little elf popped into existence.

"Master called?"

"We will be relocating to Nott Hall for the foreseeable future. Bring a friend – another elf whose loyalty is to me, not to my parents, please. I need you to keep my secrets."

"Miffie is honoured to be keeping Master's secrets. Miffie will fetch Moffat and be ready for Master at Master Theo's house," she babbled, then stared at Theo. "Master Theo is too thin. Miffie and Moffat will be feeding Master Theo up while they is living at Master Theo's house," before disappearing with a sharp crack. Hermione and Katie retreated back to Draco's bedroom and heard the roar of the fire as Theo disappeared.

He was back in less than the ten minutes he'd asked for, the floo leaving him slightly dishevelled which he didn't seem to notice as he scribbled the secret on a piece of parchment and handed it to them all in turn. As soon as Katie passed it to Hermione, Draco took her arm and disapparated, leaving Theo to throw the parchment in the fire and hold out a hand to Hermione. She took it calmly and he apparated them instantly to a house which, while just as grand as Malfoy Manor, seemed to be much softer and warmer. That was about all Hermione had time to notice before she heard a scream and someone barrelled into her, wrapping their arms and legs around her and talking so fast they were incomprehensible. Luckily, Hermione recognised the red hair flying in front of her face.

"Ginny!" she said, giving her friend a slight shake. "Ginny, calm down!" Ginny calmed slightly, and the two girls hugged more normally, Hermione only just realising in time that she was still holding Theo's hand. Released, he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, looking instantly more relaxed.

"No offence, Draco, but I fucking hate your house," he said. Draco laughed, and nodded.

"So do I, why else do you think I'd be moving in with you?" he asked. "What?" he demanded of Hermione, Katie and Ginny who were all staring at him in disbelief.

"You… laughed," Katie said weakly. "Properly." Draco raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"You don't laugh," Hermione said. "You smirk, or make sarcastic comments. You don't just… laugh." Draco and Theo exchanged glances.

"OK…" Theo said slowly. "Well, while you're getting over that shock, I'll show you around. The house elves can make up some rooms upstairs, I'm sure – you can either share or, for the time being, there's plenty for one each. I've no idea how many people Draco's planning to bring here though."

"As many as I can get," Draco said grimly, as they set off upstairs to find rooms. "We are not going to lose this time. Malfoy's don't fucking lose!"

"How does that work when there are Malfoys on both sides?" Katie asked. Draco snorted.

"My parents won't fight against me," he said confidently. "They've never refused me anything I want, ever. They will not fight for the Dark Lord. I'm sure of it."

Sometime later, Hermione entered Ginny's room to find her friend sitting beside the window, staring out over the bare, almost desolate land surrounding Nott Hall.

"Don't go next door, Hannah's asleep," Ginny said dully. Hermione nodded.

"How are you doing?" she asked quietly. Ginny shook her head, and Hermione slipped into the seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her. Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder and sighed.

"I'm… alive," she said softly. "I cried for Harry, last night. Hannah and I cried nearly all night I think. I can't even think about mum and dad. Did you know mum threw herself in front of a killing curse meant for me? And the last time I saw the twins, they told me dad died saving Fred from a collapsing wall. They gave everything up for us, from the minute we were born, and they died saving us." She paused to wipe her face. "I don't know what happened to Bill and Fleur…"

"They were captured," Katie's voice said behind them. "I'm so sorry Ginny, but he had them executed on the spot as half-breeds and monsters." She sat on the other side of Ginny, mimicking Hermione and putting an arm around her.

"Charlie's still out the country, as far as I know, and the twins…"

"They weren't with the prisoners," Katie said. "And if anyone could get out of Hogwarts yesterday, it's them. They have to be ok. They have to be." Ginny looked at her with sudden understanding.

"George?" she guessed. Katie blushed.

"It sounds stupid, to be so worried about a boyfriend when you've just lost half your family, and so has he… but I swear if he got himself killed I'll resurrect him just so I can kill him all over again!" Ginny giggled through her tears.

"I'll help," she volunteered. "Anyway, I know Ron's alive, even if Theo doesn't think he will be for long, but I have no idea what happened to Percy. Is he dead too?"

"No," Katie replied. "He's… he's marked." Ginny swallowed hard.

"Of course he is," she sighed. "Git. At least he's alive. Thank Merlin Mum and Dad didn't live to see that, that's all I can say."


	4. Chapter 3

**4** **th** **May 1998**

The unusual group living in Nott Hall settled down together over the next few days. Each day started with Miffie, who had commandeered the running of the household, serving them breakfast in the smaller of the two dining rooms. During breakfast Moffat – who in contrast to his friend was silent, deferential, and very proper – would provide the Daily Prophet, laying it on the table equidistant from his master and their host. Theo, who seemed to care little for the minutiae of the news, generally then conceded it to Draco, whose job it was to read the headlines, summarise them and report back to the rest of the room.

Two days after the battle, Draco groaned as he skimmed the front page.

"What is it?" Katie asked.

"'Lord Voldemort Appointed Minister of Magic'," Draco read flatly. "'In a dramatic reshuffle following the death of Piers Thicknesse, Lord Voldemort has been offered the position of Minister of Magic by majority vote of the Wizengamot. He has thanked the Wizarding Community for the honour and accepted the position with the hope that he can help the people through the difficult time following the death of Minister Thicknesse. ' He's then gone on to appoint Rabastan Lestrange as Senior Undersecretary and Weasley keeps his post as Junior Undersecretary. With the disappearance of Kingsley Shacklebolt, Rodolphus Lestrange takes over as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The esteemed Madam Umbridge retains control of the Muggleborn Registration Committee."

"And so it begins," Theo said grimly. "Fancy a government position Draco?"

"More your area of expertise than mine, isn't it?"

"You've got the family name and the heritage. The Noble house of Nott is… well, not, if you'll pardon the pun." Draco snorted.

"They can forget it. I'll tell them I have ambitions to travel before settling down in government. If we fake enough deaths by then, he'll smile indulgently and tell me to trot along and have fun."

"Better get on with it then."

After breakfast Hermione, Katie and a frighteningly calm Ginny sat in the library making lists of all the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army that they could think of, and noting what they knew about their current whereabouts. Ginny worked like a demon, her only show of emotion when Katie leaned over and drew her quill through the entries for 'Bill Weasley' and 'Fleur Weasley'. At another table, Draco and Theo worked on a list of possible defectors, and then retired to the potions lab in the cellar to begin a large cauldron of polyjuice potion. By evening, they were all exhausted from the repressed emotion and fell into beds almost immediately after consuming the meal that Miffie provided.

Ginny woke up several hours later, annoyingly wide awake. A brief inspection of her surroundings indicated that it was shortly after two in the morning and that Hannah had cried herself to sleep again and was unlikely to wake up. Ginny climbed out of bed, habit making her pick up her wand, and set off downstairs.

She was approaching the library, which was fast becoming their main place for socialising, when she became aware of footsteps behind her and instinctively spun, her wand held out in front of her. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Morning," he said calmly. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No," she agreed.

"Drink?"

"I'm underage," she replied, and then immediately felt stupid as he merely raised an eyebrow at her again and led the way into the library.

"Let me ask you again – drink?" She gave in.

"Please." He poured the firewhiskey into two tumblers and handed her one before dropping into a chair.

"You don't trust me," he stated. She began to protest, but he held up a hand. "No, it's fine. In your place I wouldn't trust me either. We've spent the last three years on opposite sides. I'm a marked Death Eater, and you're the deputy leader of Dumbledore's Army, a shining angel of the fucking light. I fucking tortured you on command last year. You can't trust me."

"Why are you doing this?" Ginny asked. "I mean, I'm grateful to Theo for not killing me, but I get the feeling that everything he did, he did on impulse and he had no idea what he was going to do with us. You seem to have a plan, you think we can overthrow Riddle – and I want to know why you've suddenly switched sides." Draco considered this question for a long moment.

"I don't really know," he said thoughtfully. "When I was chasing Granger through Hogwarts, I suddenly realised that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in service to a lunatic who might decide to kill me at any given moment. I could have made the inner circle, but I've seen the state of the people who manage that – they're either pathetic or insane and in both cases they spend far too much time on their knees for my liking. I'm not so sure I've switched sides as much as formed a new one."

"You want to rule the Wizarding World?" Ginny asked, confused. Draco laughed.

"No. No one in their right mind would accept that of a Malfoy. No, what I really want is to be able to live my life in peace, without having to bow down to anyone. I want to teach my kids to fly, I want to wave them off to Hogwarts, I want to be able to walk down the street without anyone loathing me… I just want to be normal. What about you?"

"Well, until two days ago I wanted to marry Harry, play professional quidditch and, like you, live a normal life. Now… well, I can't marry Harry, quidditch seems like the least of my worries and I'm not sure we'll even get back to a normal life again. My parents are dead, Bill and Fleur are dead, Charlie and the twins might be, and Ron would probably be better off dead. The only one I know is safe is Percy, and he's a Death Eater!" Draco topped up both their glasses.

"Well, you're not alone," he said awkwardly. "It's not the same, I know, but… I watched one of my friends burn to death yesterday. We've all lost people." Ginny gasped.

"I forgot," she confessed. "I think we all did except you and I suppose Theo… Crabbe, wasn't it?" Draco nodded, suddenly unable to speak. Ginny reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry," she said. "We forget that just because you won, technically, doesn't mean that you didn't lose people too." Draco pulled himself together.

"Don't get me wrong, some of them were no loss. You trying to take down my Aunt Bella was inspired, and we should all be forever in your debt for it – if you hadn't missed."

"She killed Mum," Ginny whispered. "Next time, I won't miss." Draco squeezed her fingers, and raised his glass.

"To your Mum, and the rest of your family," he said firmly. Ginny raised hers as well.

"And Crabbe," she added. Draco nodded, and they drank.

"Maybe tomorrow we can do something about Quidditch," he said, making an obvious effort to change the subject and lighten the atmosphere. "Theo has grounds, after all. We'll need to see how far the fidelious charm goes."

"That would be fun," Ginny said, yawning. "I think I'll go back to bed now. Thanks for the company, Malfoy."

"Draco," he corrected. "Granger – Hermione – said that if we were going to work together she had to pretend I was someone different, and I had to help by calling her Hermione. Please call me Draco." Ginny hesitated.

"Ginny," she eventually said, before allowing him to pull her to her feet. She released his hand, realising she'd been holding it for a while, and turned towards the stairs.

"Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight," he replied hesitantly, "Ginny."


	5. Chapter 4

**So it seems that if I post when sleep deprived, you only get half a chapter. Sorry about that. Here are one and a half chapters to make up for it.**

 **Again, thank you all so much for reading!**

 **5** **th** **May 1998**

 **Nott Hall**

"Oh, Merlin's fucking balls in a box!" Draco exclaimed. Theo raised an eyebrow as he poured his coffee.

"Something wrong, that you feel the need to descend to such profanity over breakfast?" he asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Draco turned the newspaper over.

 _"_ _Lucius Malfoy appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts"._ They all read the headline in silence, and then Draco turned the paper back over and skimmed the article.

"Long-respected citizen… board of governors… influence…return out national educational establishment to its former glory and reverse the damage done... fuck! Has he not done enough damage fucking up my life, now they're letting him fuck up every other child in the country?"

"No," Hermione said firmly. Draco stopped abruptly.

"No?"

"No. Because once we win, your father won't be Headmaster of Hogwarts. And Riddle won't be Minister for Magic, and Rodolphus-fucking-Lestrange," she paused to glare at Ginny as the redhead's eyebrows almost hit her hairline, "Won't be making a mockery of what passes for law enforcement. We will fix this. And we should start fixing it today. Does anyone have a plan?"

"I do," Ginny said, standing up from the table. Her glance collected Draco and Katie as she explained, "I'm going flying. Draco and I already agreed. Theo, where are the brooms?"

"You're going flying?" Hermione almost shrieked. The three Quidditch players left without another word, leaving Theodore with the furious girl.

"Let them go," he said calmly. "We've all been through a lot in the last few days. We all need to relax a bit. Everything will be much easier when it's not so intense. Just watch – today, they'll fly, I'll spend the day in the library and you can… well, you can do whatever you prefer, and tomorrow, we'll plan to take over the world. Just now, I advise you to go and find a book or something. Miffie will want us out of here soon."

Later, after a long shower and a vain attempt at coaxing Hannah out of her room, Hermione found Theo in the library, seated at a large desk. He barely looked up as Hermione wandered among the shelves, examining the book titles. Once she had completed a full circuit of the room, she approached Theo.

"What are you working on?" she asked shyly. He glanced up.

"Wards," he replied briefly.

"For the house? Do you want any help? I had a fairly comprehensive set on our tent when we were on the run… Merlin, I can't believe that was only four days ago." Theo closed his book.

"So in four days you've broken into Gringotts, fought a battle, almost thrown yourself off the Astronomy tower, been rescued by your worst enemy and lost so many friends that I'm amazed the three of you are still going. And I've gone from being a Hogwarts student, fought in the same battle, switched sides and now I'm hosting the resistance. Do you see what I mean about needing to relax?"

"Didn't you lose any friends?" she asked shyly. Theo shrugged.

"Don't really have any – just Draco, and we were more thrown together than anything else. I was never particularly close to the rest. And Blaise Zabini, who I shared a room with at school, but he's disappeared to the continent somewhere to avoid being marked."

"Do you have family?"

"My mother died when I was a child, and my father's not around anymore either. I'm an only child." Hermione looked sympathetic.

"It must be lonely," she said, very softly. Theo frowned.

"I can't say I've ever really thought about it. It just is," he said frankly. Hermione looked slightly off balance.

"Can I help at all with your research?" she asked, changing the subject. After hesitating a few seconds, Theo pushed the book towards her.

"I'm looking for anything that makes people forget this place ever existed," he said. "My working theory is that I can modify Muggle-repelling charms to work on everyone, but I'm not sure what to do about a last failsafe. For example, what happens if someone who has been here years ago apparates in for some reason?" Hermione tapped the end of her quill on her lips thoughtfully.

"Can we set something up so that anyone trying to come in who is not on the approved list ends up in… a potting shed or a broom cupboard or something like that? Then we can deal with them as we see fit, depending on who they are." Theo stared at her for a long minute and then began to laugh. Hermione grinned back at him and they bent back over the book, reading together and occasionally pausing to point something out or make a suggestion. When the others returned from their flying neither of them even noticed, causing Draco and Ginny to exchange intrigued glances.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked. Draco shrugged, and pushed his hair back off his face.

"I don't know. Theo's pretty fucked up after everything that's happened, and Hermione was tortured a few weeks back. Neither of them is exactly mentally stable right now."

"Hermione's tough. And they might be able to help each other. She'll start out looking at Theo like one of her causes, trying to help him, and in the process she'll end up helping herself. Her and Ron would have killed each other. I can see her with Theo… I can see them in a house full of books, researching obscure things, arguing over nothing… having to dig them out the library when I go to visit…"

"And where do you see you?" Draco asked, fascinated by the picture. Ginny sighed.

"I don't know. There's no Harry. I have to re-think everything without Harry, and it's… it's hard. Maybe I'll convince my brothers to let me stay at the Burrow and take over from mum, cooking Sunday lunch and looking after the chickens." She laughed. "Anyway… Hermione and Theo first, no?" Draco nodded.

"Hermione and Theo first."

 **6** **th** **May 1998**

On the third day, after finishing breakfast, Draco marched into the room Hannah and Ginny had been sharing, leaving the door swinging open behind him.

"Abbott, you have to make a decision," he said without any preamble. Hannah, face swollen and tearstained, sat up.

"What?" she demanded.

"You can either stay in here, mourning Longbottom for the rest of your natural life, or you can pull yourself together and get out there and fucking do something about it. Moping is going to get you nowhere. Look at Weasley – you're not the only one who lost her boyfriend. Hers is dead too, Granger's is in a fucking cage until the Dark Lord gets bored of him, and Merlin knows where the fuck Bell's is. Theo and I weren't lucky enough to be in relationships, and right now I'm thinking that was a fucking lucky break.

"There are only six of us, Hannah. Are we doing this with six, or are we doing it with five?" The three girls standing outside cringed at his abrupt tone, anticipating Hannah dissolving into tears and the extra time that would pass before they could convince her to leave the room now. Theo lounged against the wall, watching what he could see of the confrontation with an air of mild interest. There was a long, tense moment of silence, and then they heard Hannah's voice.

"I'm not a great fighter, but I was planning to be a healer when I left Hogwarts. I was working with Madam Pomfrey in sixth year and up until we went into hiding in seventh. I'm not great, but I know the basics and I've got a whole stack of the texts that they use for healer training. I was good enough for Dumbledore's Army until the battle. Can you use a healer?"

With the problem of Hannah solved for the time being, the six revolutionaries gathered around a long table in the middle of the Nott library. Draco took charge.

"OK, before we do anything else, we need to get all our dirty laundry on the table. Yes, Theo and I are Death Eaters. Yes, we were marked. Yes, last week we'd cheerfully have murdered any of you and given it no more thought than how far up the Dark Lord's influence tree your body would have moved us. However, allow me to point out that you'd have killed us with no more thought. So here goes, and this is the only time I'm going to say this.

"I'm sorry. Ginny, Hannah, I'm especially sorry for the detentions I supervised last year, for every curse, for everything. Katie, I am so sorry about the necklace. You know it wasn't meant for you, and I can only tell you that I wasn't thinking straight. I was desperate. I would have tried anything. Hermione… "

"I know," she said calmly. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for my part too – including for slapping you and sending in Harry and Ron, polyjuiced, to see if you were the Heir of Slytherin." There was a snort of suppressed laughter from Theo at that, and the atmosphere lightened considerably. Katie held out her hand.

"Shake," she said. Draco obeyed, smiling slightly. Hannah leaned forward.

"I'm still not sure I trust you, but I trust Hermione and she trusts you, so I can work with that," she said honestly. "I accept your apology." Draco's eyes turned to Ginny who held his gaze for a long minute.

"Like Hannah, I don't trust you, and our families have a terrible history," she said slowly. "But… over the last few days, I've been looking at things a bit differently and I'm willing to accept I might be wrong. I'll work with you, because I believe we want the same thing. In time, we will see about apologies and forgiveness." Draco nodded.

"Anyone need an apology from the other Death Eater in the room?" Theo asked flippantly. "I mean, I know I'm not the same level of utter bastard that Malfoy is, but surely I must have done something to someone?" There was silence, broken only by small smiles.

"Seems you're just not evil enough, Theo," Draco smirked. Theo sighed.

"Damn. Must work harder," he said, feigning annoyance. "Now, if all the Hufflepuff crap is out the way, begging your pardon Hannah, can we get on? We're got a world to take over, remember?"

"We do," Draco agreed, and produced several sheets of parchment. "This is the list of the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army who we know were either not at Hogwarts, or escaped after the battle. Several of these have been captured and I think we have to more or less write them off, possibly with one exception."

"We can't do that!" Katie protested. Draco glared at her.

"We have to! Look around! There are six of us! The prisoners will be in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, guarded. We don't have the faintest hope of being able to get to them without the Dark Lord realising something is going on. All we can do is hope that by the time we manage to overthrow him, some of them will still be able to be saved."

"Who is the exception?" Hermione asked. Draco looked pained.

"Weasley," he sighed. "Much as I hate to say it, we need his brain. He is, however a problem to be tackled another day. Now, this is the list of known and suspected order safe houses. I've also had you add other locations to the bottom of it where you genuinely don't think there will be people hiding, but that Theo and I can go and pretend to check. We need to work fast. I think we need to aim to have most of the names on this list rounded up by the beginning of next month."

"People have survived in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor for far longer than a month," Theo said, correctly interpreting the girls' unhappy expressions.

"They're all students – hardly any of them are even older than us!" Hermione said, studying the list.

"Most of the older generation are dead," Draco pointed out brutally. "Of those that survive, most are Hogwarts staff and are at Hogwarts. We will approach them nearer the time, but I don't believe that we should fight at Hogwarts this time. It does not lend itself well to combat."

There was a long pause before Hannah spoke, asking the question they all wanted to.

"So where…?" Draco sighed, and said simply

"Malfoy Manor."

Ron Weasley was cold, cramped, starving and filthy. He was also, at the moment, in no inconsiderable amount of pain. He had no idea how long he'd been in this cage, he had no idea how long it had been since he'd last eaten, and at the moment all his concentration was going in to not soiling himself again. The manor – he presumed he was in Malfoy Manor, given the opulence of the surroundings and the plethora of Death Eaters who passed through on a regular basis – was silent, and he guessed it was somewhere in the small hours of the morning. Quite a substantial time until even the earliest risers would be around and he could beg to be allowed out to relieve himself. At the thought, another excruciating cramp passed through his stomach and his over-taxed bladder and he curled into a ball, his pained whimpering hiding the sound of someone opening the door. When he did become aware of the intruder, he jumped violently and immediately lost the control he'd been so carefully exerting, sobbing in disgust and humiliation as a figure heavily robed and hooded, with their face hidden in shadow, loomed over him. The newcomer unlocked the cage.

"Out," a voice said quietly. Ron obeyed, staggering as he stretched his cramped muscles. The visitor began casting spells rapidly and quietly, and Ron flinched before he realised that they were all cleansing and healing charms. "I can't do any more, he'll notice," the voice said after a few minutes. "Here, I brought you food and water as well. Eat quickly, I can't stay long." Some part of Ron appreciated the irony of being told, for once, to eat quickly, and he almost inhaled the bread, chicken and water that his benefactor handed over.

"Who are you?" he asked, when this was done and the unknown figure was clearing any trace of the hurried meal away.

"I can't tell you," the voice said. "It's not safe for you to know. I'll be back tomorrow night. Try and – well, try and hold on. If you behave, they'll have less reason to torture you."

"Thank you," Ron said weakly, his heart sinking as he was herded back into the cage. The figure paused in relocking the door.

"You're welcome," it replied.

At the same time, in Nott Hall, Draco looked carefully around the library, decided it was empty, and slumped forward until his head was resting on the table. As he did so, the door clicked open and firm footsteps entered.

"Do you ever think we're insane?" Theo asked, conversationally. "I mean, here we are, rising stars in the cause that our families have been supporting for generations, we're finally on top, we're finally going to rule the world the way we've always thought it should be run… and we both decide to throw in the towel and change sides. There must be grounds to plead insanity there somewhere."

"I think the whole fucking world is insane," Draco replied, without lifting his head.

"Well, if we're trying to overthrow the Dark Lord, sharing my ancestral home with a bunch of blood traitors and you, my friend, appear to be falling for Ginny Weasley then yes, the world is insane," Theo replied, handing over a glass off firewhisky.

"Don't be ridiculous, she's just lost her parents and her boyfriend," Draco said. Theo shrugged.

"Not her boyfriend, they broke up a year or so ago," he pointed out. "She doesn't seem too cut up about it. And lots of people have lost people. Don't sit there and pretend you won't miss Crabbe – that you're not missing Crabbe."

"And what about the lovely Miss Granger?" Draco demanded, ignoring this and carrying war into the enemies camp. Theo shrugged.

"She's as beautiful as she was at Hogwarts, and she still won't be interested," he replied bluntly.

"She might be."

"No one is ever interested in me. Theodore 'Who?' Nott, remember? Anyway, we've just fought a fucking war – we're still fighting a fucking war! We haven't got time for…"

"Sex?" Draco grinned, looking more like himself. "We've always got time for sex, Theo! What the fuck is the point of the whole thing if there's no sex?" Theo shook his head, finished his drink and left without another word, leaving Draco alone, grinning to himself.


	6. Chapter 5

**Thank you again to all those who have read, followed, and favourited. I love watching the read count increase!**

 **Some action coming in the next update, for those who have been waiting on it!**

 **7** **th** **May 1998**

 **Nott Hall**

It was the night before the first of Draco and Theo's missions was due to take place. Hermione lay in bed, her brain buzzing with a million questions – what if they'd chosen wrongly? What if there was no one there? What if they fought, what if someone got killed? Her overactive imagination immediately presented her with visions of Draco and Theo's bodies, spell damaged and broken, and she shuddered – and then wondered why the visions had such an impact. She distracted herself by wondering how many people would be left for them to find. She knew a lot of people had had contingency plans in place to flee the country, but she hoped – they all hoped – that enough had remained to turn the tide.

She sighed, turned over, sighed again, and gave up. She was wide awake, and judging by the silence of the rest of the house she was the only one. Katie at least was sound asleep beside her – while Theo's house had plenty of bedrooms, the girls were still sharing; partly for company, partly to leave space for the others who Draco was hoping to tempt out of hiding, and partly because none of them entirely trusted their Death Eater colleagues. Hermione slipped out of bed and made her way downstairs. Hopefully, she'd be able to avoid waking Miffie and make herself a cup of tea, and then she could go over some of the plans again.

She accomplished the first part of the task easily, and then carefully made her way through the dark house to the library. The plans for the following day were lying on the table where they'd been left when Draco – always the last one awake – had gone to bed. To her surprise, there was already a figure lounging in a chair in front of the fire.

"I didn't realise anyone else would be here," she said, by way of announcing her presence. The figure glanced up, revealing itself as the master of the house. He waved his glass expressively, indicating the other chair. Hermione sat down.

"Always feels better to have someone sitting with you when you drink," Theo said eventually, as he drained his glass. "Want one?"

"I have tea," Hermione replied. Theo made a face.

"Have a real drink," he said, handing it over. Hermione took it and sipped it tentatively.

"That's better than the stuff I've had before," she said, surprised. At Theo's raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "Seamus brought some to a party one night." Theo scoffed.

"I think we can fairly safely assume that anything I pull out of my father's cellars is going to be better than something that idiot provided for a Gryffindor common room party. The whole of Gryffindor could pool their fucking Gringotts accounts and they wouldn't be able to buy this. Well, assuming Potter didn't get involved, I suppose one of you has a reasonable amount of money."

"You sound like Malfoy when you say things like that," Hermione observed. "Just because most of us will have to work for a living instead of bleeding our parents dry, you still think you're so superior."

"No," Theo replied. "For a start, all my money is mine. I wouldn't have lived off my father if my life depended on it, which it probably would have. And, I'll have you know, there was a time when sounding like Draco was the biggest compliment I could have been given. But superior? The Notts, in my opinion, are about as inferior as you can get. I'm not proud of my heritage."

"Where is your father, Theo?" Hermione asked curiously. Theo downed another glass of firewhiskey.

"Dead," he replied. "Didn't you know?"

"I… guessed?" she said hesitantly. "What happened?"

"Draco didn't tell you?"

"No."

"The ultimate pureblood sin," Theo said dully. "I killed him." Hermione blinked. "Thus ensuring both my exile from polite society and the end of my line."

"Why?" Theo sighed.

"Which?"

"Both."

"It's complicated. My father was…" he paused.

"A sadistic, abusive, murdering bastard," provided a voice from behind them. They both jumped as Draco, wearing nothing but a pair of loose trousers, picked up a piece of parchment off the table, inspected it closely, sighed with relief, and turned to leave again. "Just checking something," he explained vaguely.

"Anyway, regardless, the fact that I killed him, and that it's generally assumed that I did, means that all the mamas and the papas will suspect – possibly correctly – that the family streak of insanity has manifested itself in me. No one is going to want to tie their daughter to someone they think is mad. They all know what my father did to my mother, and like father, like son. Thus my estrangement from polite society and the end of the Nott line."

"You could meet someone… normally. You know, not through an arranged marriage," Hermione pointed out. Theo snorted.

"Pure-bloods don't meet that way."

"You might not meet a pureblood," Hermione persisted. Theo raised an eyebrow.

"In which case, the Nott line-"

"-would be much improved by the injection of new blood, vastly reducing the likelihood of inbred insanity!"

"Have you seen this?" he brandished his left arm at her, displaying the Dark Mark. "I'm on the wrong side! Believe me, I'd like nothing better than to retire into scholarly recluse with a Ravenclaw half-blood, but once this is over, who's going to want to marry a Death Eater? My father has destroyed any chance I'll ever have of that, don't you see? He forced this… abomination on me, and ruined my fucking life!" He threw his glass into the back of the fireplace where it shattered, causing the flames for flare up for a moment. Hermione sorted through her arguments, wondering as she did so why she was so concerned. Until a few days before, she'd never given a second thought to Theodore Nott, yet now it seemed the most important thing in the world to convince him that he was worth more than he thought he was.

"You're not on the wrong side any more, Theo; you're harbouring the resistance in your bloody house!" Theo seemed to ignore this point.

"Anyway, it doesn't make any difference. No girl wants me when Draco and Blaise are around, and I draw the line at the murder of two of my last three remaining friends in order to find someone." Hermione shook her head, frustrated.

"Why did you kill your father?" she asked, reverting back to the previous topic. Theo sighed.

"Several reasons. What Draco said was right, he was sadistic and abusive. He murdered my mother, and everyone knew it. I killed him when he came back one night with two muggle girls, told me it was about time I fucked something, and to get on with it. When I refused, he crucioed one of them and threatened me with the same." Hermione shivered.

"That's not murder, Theo, that's self-defence."

"Doesn't make any difference, he's still dead. I obliviated the girls and dumped them in the nearest town. Transfigured my father's body and threw him into the sea, and took my place as the head of the family Nott." Hermione moved over until she was kneeling on the floor beside his chair. He frowned at her, seeming to have difficulty focussing. She wasn't surprised, given the amount of firewhiskey he'd drunk since she joined him. She reached out and he flinched, and then froze as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You looked like you needed a hug," she said quietly, pulling away. Theo stared at her in confusion, and then slid off the chair so he was sitting on the floor beside her. Hermione had a sudden understanding. "Theo, when did your mother die?"

"When I was two," he said quietly. "She was the victim of his anger at Potter's defeat of Voldemort. And yes," he added, following her thoughts despite the firewhiskey, "As far as I know she was the last person to hug me." Instinctively, Hermione leaned into him and hugged him again and this time, one of Theo's arms came round her shoulders. When she sat back, he left his arm in place and she curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Theo slowly moved until his cheek was resting on top of her hair and Hermione felt his breathing slow and steady as he fell asleep. Closing her eyes, she did the same.

"Have they fallen asleep?" Ginny demanded from outside the door.

"I think so, I can't see them anymore," Draco sounded annoyed. "Nice set up, by the way."

"Well, Hermione always makes a cup of tea and goes to the library when she can't sleep, she used to do it at Grimmauld Place. And just now… well, who can sleep?"

"Theo, apparently. Drunken arsehole messed up his chance after I turned down expensive firewhiskey to leave him alone for Granger to find."

"Don't be like that, it's progress," Ginny grinned. "They'll be good for each other."

"Theo's never had a girlfriend."

"Hermione hasn't had a lot of boyfriends, don't worry."

"What about your brother?"

"Assuming he survives?" Ginny asked in the cold tone that she'd taken to using when her family came up in conversation. "I think they were attracted to each other by default. Anyway, if they're asleep then there's nothing else we can do tonight. I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Mal – I mean, Draco." He smiled.

"Goodnight, Ginny."

They separated to head to their respective bedrooms, but Ginny turned as she was about to close the door.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"You know everything she just told him was rubbish – all that stuff about no one accepting a Death eater?"

"Yes?"

"You know that applies to you as well, don't you?"

"Good night, Ginny."

Ginny wriggled into her new pyjamas, purchased courtesy of Draco – no one outside their hideout was surprised to find him showering Katie with new belongings and, if she'd ended up with enough clothes to dress four women instead of one, what did it matter? She was about to climb into bed when she stopped, haunted by the look in Draco's eyes as he wished her goodnight. She left the bedroom again and silently, bare feet sinking into the thick carpet, made her way along the corridor to Draco's room.

Here she froze, unsure, and finally decided against knocking, opening the door and slipping in before she could change her mind. Draco appeared from the balcony looking confused at the sound of the door closing, and frowned.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Ginny shrugged.

"I wanted some company," she replied. "You looked like you might too." Draco considered this for a long minute, and then moved to sit on his bed.

"Come on, then," he offered, pulling back the covers. "It's not exactly warm in here."

Lying in the big bed, face to face, Ginny was surprised when a wry smile suddenly appeared on Draco's face.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"What your brothers would say if they saw you," he replied instantly. "The perfect Weasley girl, lying in bed with the Death Eater who tried to kill Dumbledore."

"I don't really care what they've got to say," she said. "They're not here, are they? And you're more than that, Draco. Even just this week I can see that you're more than that. That… idiot who made that plan, who tried to do that… he's not who you are now. He wouldn't have done the things you've done – the things you're planning to do tomorrow." She turn over and wriggled backwards until she was pressed against him. Draco wrapped his arms around her.

"Tomorrow might be a disaster," he said, almost too quietly to hear. Ginny shook her head.

"It won't be," she said firmly. "Trust me. And on the off-chance that it is – we'll have tried. At least we'll have tried."


	7. Chapter 6

**Thank you again, all those who have read and/or reviewed. Much appreciated.**

 **8** **th** **May 1998**

Draco studied his team. It had been a hard choice, deciding how many and who to take on this first mission when they were so few to begin with. It had even been hard to decide where to try first, and they'd argued for hours about who was likely to be hiding where, and the most valuable people to get first. Eventually, he and Theo had decided that had they been doing this without the girls, they'd have started at the Weasley's Wizard Weezes shop in Diagon Alley as one of the most obviously Light locations. And, Theo had pointed out bluntly, if anything had hinted that they had inside help, they'd be dead in seconds. Finally, Hermione had asked if, assuming they found them, they'd rather have the Weasley twins working with them or against them. This decision being made, Ginny had then insisted she should go.

"Neither you nor Hermione is going anywhere," Draco had responded, beginning to lose his temper. "You're dead, you fucking idiot! You can't go trotting down Diagon Alley, and Hannah's in no state to do anything yet."

"Katie hasn't got a wand!" Ginny had argued. "Can't we wait until the polyjuice is ready, and then I can go with you as Katie? They're my brothers!"

"No, because if we wait a month to move then we're still dead!" Theo shot back, over Katie's indignant protest of,

"And my boyfriend!"

The youngest Weasley had eventually subsided, scowling, and handed her wand over to Katie, it being a better fit for her than Hermione's. Katie claimed that the last time she'd seen her own wand it had been in the hands of Goyle senior, and Draco had added a note to one of their plans to retrieve them. After all, Katie and Hannah were unlikely to be the only wandless refugees.

And now it was the morning of the first hit, less than a week after the battle at Hogwarts. Draco and Theo were wearing Death Eater robes in the library of Nott Manor. Katie was wearing plain black robes with the Malfoy crest embroidered on the breast, and sporting an impressive bruise on the side of her face which she'd appeared with the previous evening.

"It looks more authentic," she'd said, in answer to their gobsmacked expressions. "I'm a whore now, remember? No one who knows me is going to accept that I let Draco have me without a fight, and you never know who we might run into."

"What did you do?" Hermione had demanded, springing forward to inspect the injury.

"Smacked my face off the bedpost," the other girl explained, and Draco and Theo had exchanged incredulous glances at the stupidity of Gryffindors. Now she held out her hand, and Draco placed a magical bond between her wrist and his. Hermione, Ginny and Hannah stood back, surveying them.

"Head down, Katie. Look broken. That's better," Ginny said. There was a long pause.

"Let's do this?" Draco said nervously. He and Theo straightened up, their faces losing all emotion and assuming perfect pureblood facades before he stepped into the Floo, dragging Katie behind him. Theo stalked in after him, and the three girls with one accord sat down to wait.

Emerging into Diagon Alley, the two men strolled up it together, nodding greetings to others as they passed them.

"Draco!" a voice called, and they turned to see Marcus Flint bearing down on them, towing a terrified and exhausted looking Susan Bones. Susan was still wearing the clothes she'd had on during the battle, though there were no buttons left on her school blouse and her legs were bare. Her hufflepuff tie bound her wrist to Flint's and she was trying desperately to hold the scraps of fabric around her as she almost ran behind him. Draco curled his lip at the sight of her.

"Really, Flint," he drawled. "Have a bit of respect, would you? She could be the mother of your fucking heir, arsehole. Look!" he pushed Katie forward displaying the Malfoy emblem on her robes. "Clearly mine, but only mine – I'm not displaying her charms to the entire street." Flint chuckled as Theo unfastened his heavy wool cloak and wrapped it around Susan, who looked up at him in surprise.

"She used to help me in Runes," he said off-handedly. "And frankly, I don't want to see her naked in Diagon Alley. You're an arsehole, Flint." Marcus Flint ignored this, focussing on Katie.

"Is that the bitch that used to chase for Gryffindor?" he asked, grabbing Katie's hair and pulling her head up. "Nice one, Malfoy. Where's your pet, Nott?" Theo made an annoyed noise.

"Stupid cow hasn't stopped crying over fucking Longbottom yet," Susan's head shot up at the name and she glared at Theo, who tried to ignore her. "To be honest if she doesn't pick up her game soon I'll send her to be part of the entertainment at the next revel. The noise gets on my nerves." Flint nodded in agreement and fell into step beside them as they made their way down the street.

"Where are you going today, anyway?" he asked.

"We got a job, remember?" Draco asked, sounding bored. "We thought we'd make a start and check the obvious places. Heading up to the shop that the Weasley balls used to own." Flint chuckled again at the name.

"I'll come with you," he said agreeably. Katie felt rather than saw the tensing of Draco's muscles under his robe, but he merely shrugged.

"If you want," he replied easily.

They approached the front of the shop first. The door was lying open and the windows were smashed. Looking round, it was immediately obvious the access to the flat from here was blocked by a large shelf unit which was lying in front of the door. Theo led them to the back and into the storage areas. From there, they had been informed, a staircase led up to a door in the kitchen of the flat.

"Watch yourself, Theo, the arseholes have probably booby trapped it," Draco said warningly. Theo nodded and, following Ginny's advice, pressed himself against the right hand wall of the staircase as they began their ascent. Draco and Katie imitated him. Flint, without their prior knowledge, started up the middle of the stairs and within three steps had enveloped himself and Susan in a cloud of Peruvian Instant Darkness powder. Katie stopped dead, countered the binding spell tying her to Draco, dived back into the cloud and felt around blindly until she encountered Flint. Pointing Ginny's wand in the right direction, she whispered

"Stupefy!" and was rewarded by a thump and a scream from Susan. "Susan, this is Katie!" she said hastily. "Stay still, we're here to rescue people. We'll take you too. Don't worry about Draco and Theo, they won't hurt you, I swear." Her waving hand encountered one of Susan's and she dragged the other girl up out of the darkness. Susan was shaking violently and Theo gave her a concerned glance.

"Can you hold it together until we're done, or should we stun you and wake you up when we're home?" he asked bluntly. "We've neither the time nor the ability to carry passengers." For answer, Susan turned back to the dissipating Darkness and removed Flint's wand from his pocket.

"Lead on," she said shakily.

"Now that we're shot of him, Katie, take the lead. They're less likely to hex you first and ask questions later," Draco ordered quietly, pulling Susan in behind him. Katie slipped past Theo and, still clinging to the right hand wall, made it to the top of the stairs.

"Put your wands on the top step and back down the stairs," a voice said at that point. Katie raised an eyebrow.

"George Weasley, if you dare threaten me again I swear to Merlin when this is over I'll take out an advert in the daily prophet and tell everyone what happened the first time you asked me out. And don't hex my colleagues either." There was a long pause.

"Katie?" the voice asked. "What's going on?" The door opened, revealing George. He took in the scene in front of him and lunged forward, aiming for Draco.

"Stu-" he began, before collapsing to the floor as Katie hit him with a body bind hex.

"I told you not to hex my colleagues," she sighed, exasperated, stepping over him and allowing Theo to drag him into the flat. "Anyone else here?" she called out. A scuffle in one of the bedrooms attracted her attention and she entered to find Oliver Wood standing protectively between the door and the bed.

"Olly, it's me," she said urgently, and then ducked the hex that he sent at her. "Oliver!"

"Katie?"

"Yes! Merlin, Olly, stop fucking cursing me!"

"What are you doing?"

"Saving you," she returned briskly. He shook his head.

"You're wearing Malfoy robes, Katie! I'm not an idiot!" He turned his wand on her again, just as a bolt of red light hit him in the back and he fell forward.

"Done," Draco said briskly. "One in a body bind, one stunned, and Susan – not a bad haul, though I could have done without gaining another Weasley. What have we got here?" Katie was staring into the bed, her face pale.

"Lee, and Colin," she said, her hand resting against Lee's still face. Draco paused.

"That makes things easier," he said shakily. "Listen, you take the others back to Theo's, and we'll do what needs to be done here."

"What are you going to do?" she demanded. Draco shook his head.

"You don't want to know. Death Eaters, remember? We'll do what we need to so we can avoid detection, you know that. Your boyfriend will lose his flat, I can tell you that. Go on, Katie, we haven't got long!" Katie stumbled out of the room, crying freely now, and seized Susan with one hand and George's prone figure with the other. Susan grabbed Oliver, and Katie managed to choke out,

"Theo!"

The boy, looking clinically detached in his Death Eater robes, came towards them and gripped Susan's shoulders.

"The phoenix is rising at Nott Hall," he said firmly. Susan blinked then nodded as Theo repeated the information to the two figures on the floor, and Katie immediately disapperated.

Draco and Theo went to work at once and by the time they'd left the flat some time later, Theo carrying a rather distasteful package, both were feeling rather ill. Draco finished up by casting several incendio spells and they watched until the flat was burning furiously before melting into the crowd of Diagon Alley residents who were rushing to put it out.

They had, before starting the fire, hauled the unconscious Flint into an alley and they now revived him.

"What…what happened?" the man asked.

"Ambush," Theo replied instantly. "Bloody Weasleys had something set up on the stairs – as soon as that Darkness Powder appeared, we couldn't see a thing. Someone must have got you with a stunner. I don't know what happened to Bones. She must have apparated."

"Bitch took my wand!" Flint raged, checking his pockets frantically. "What did you do to the Weasleys?" Draco looked up at the flames billowing out the flat and Flint laughed.

"Good riddance," he said. "Now, I'm going to have to go and buy myself a new wand. Add that little bitch to your list, would you, boys? I want her fucking dead!"

"Consider it done," Theo agreed easily. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we should report back." They left Flint, still swearing over his lost wand, and disapparated straight from the alley to the gates of Malfoy Manor.


	8. Chapter 7

**Thank you for reading and commenting again, everyone! For those of you who were concerned about Lee and Colin's state of preservation, they were injured in the battle and then died some days later at the flat where they were hiding with George and Oliver. We are still only a week after the battle, time-wise.**

 **Malfoy Manor**

Outside the main ballroom of Malfoy Manor they both donned their masks, assumed the perfect pureblood posture that had been drilled into them since childhood and marched in, Draco leading slightly. In perfect sync, they dropped to their knees before the throne-like chair that graced one end of the room and lowered their eyes.

"My Lord, we have news," Draco murmured deferentially.

"Do tell!"

"We found four of the traitors hiding in the flat above the Weasley's shop. They are all dead. Two of them are here," he nodded to Theo, who tipped to two heads out of their container. The Dark Lord looked delighted. "And the other two burned with the shop. One of the blood-traitor twins and Wood, who used to be the Gryffindor Quidditch captian." There was a whimper from the cage beside the throne which drew the Dark Lord's attention immediately. He flicked his wand, casting a crucio on the crouched prisoner while leaning forward to inspect the severed heads.

"Very good! Keep it up, keep it up!" Both boys tried to smile while ignoring Weasley's screams of pain until someone else came in. Hearing footsteps enter behind them, Theo quickly vanished the heads and they left together, apparating back to Theo's home as soon as they were beyond the wards.

There they were met by a wave of tense silence that seemed to fill the library from wall to wall. George Weasley looked furious, sandwiched as he was between his sister and girlfriend. Hannah and Susan had their arms around each other, both showing traces of recent tears on their cheeks, and Oliver was looking confused and being hastily lectured by Hermione, who spun around as the two men re-joined them.

"Well, this is cosy," Draco said dryly, before finding George Weasley's wand at his throat. George, to his credit, ignored this and addressed his girlfriend in desperation.

"Give me one reason to trust him, Katie. Just one! He tried to fucking kill you! He would have killed us all, and now you're hand in glove with him? Someone tell me why!?"

"Because we haven't got a choice," Hermione said firmly, as Katie moved to block Oliver from going to help and Ginny tried to haul her brother off Draco. "Theo and Draco saved Ginny and I from the battle, George, and they haven't touched us – any of us. Draco has plans – good plans that might actually work! We're going to re-group and we're going to win, this time. You were just in the first place we tried; we both know that there will be more Order members out there. And we need you and Fred. Theo's going to let you use his lab downstairs to start producing things for us to use. Please, George!"

"Fuck this," Theo said into the sudden silence that followed her plea. "Anyone who is not happy here had better be out my fucking house and obliviated beyond repair by the time I get back downstairs. Don't know why I'm risking my fucking life for a bunch of idiot Gryffindors and a pair of useless Hufflepuffs." He threw the bag he'd been carrying into a corner, where it landed with a distinctly wet noise, and stormed out, Hermione hesitating only a minute before following him as Ginny finally succeeded in pulling George away.

"Is that… blood?" Hannah asked nervously, peering at the bag. Draco, suddenly too tired to respond, nodded. "Whose?"

"Jordan and Creevey's," he said. George made an angry noise and came at him again, shaking Ginny off, but Draco responded in kind and found himself kneeling on the floor over the prone figure of the older boy, his wand at his temple. "Nott was right," he said firmly. "You can trust us, or not, I really don't fucking care. But you will stay fucking civil or so help me I'll obliviate you now and dump you on the nearest corner. Now, any more questions?"

"Why are you doing this?" George asked. Draco shrugged.

"Because after Potter made a balls-up of the entire thing, the current administration is not exactly to my taste, Weasley, can you understand that? The world is being run by a lunatic camped out in my parents' home, and I'm sure you can understand that I'd like that to change at some point before it results in my death – which, I should add, will be only a matter of time as things currently stand. And if that means I have to ally myself with you lot of reckless imbeciles, then so be it. At least it means you'll have some decent brains and a bit of fucking subtlety on your side! Now what's it to be? Should Katie take you up and find you a room, or would you like me to obliviate you now, because so help me, Weasley, I'm all for it!"

"I'll stay," George said, after a long pause. "I still don't like you, Malfoy."

"I'll make a note to cry over that later. Katie, I'm going home to take off these fucking robes. Don't let them kill Theo while I'm away, will you? Ginny, teach your fucking brother some manners if you can – though I doubt it at this late date." Ginny rounded on George furiously and Katie gave Draco a sarcastic salute as he swept out, his billowing black robes looking very reminiscent of Severus Snape. Hannah turned to the rest.

"So, rooms?"

Meanwhile, Hermione found Theo's Death Eater mask tossed in a corner of the hallway, and his robes lying abandoned half way up the main staircase. As she stopped to gather them up, there was a pop behind her and Miffie appeared.

"Miffie will deal with the nasty things," she said firmly, relieving Hermione of her bundle. "Mistress Her-money will go and help Master Theo, please." Hermione sighed, but agreed and continued up the stairs to the master suite. The door was ajar, and as she entered she could hear noises coming from the bathroom. She knocked and then, when there was no answer, gently pushed open the door to find Theo standing at the sink, blood pouring from his left arm.

"Theo!" she exclaimed, running over and pulling his arm towards her. "What are you doing?" she demanded, casting a healing charm to stop the bleeding. Theo waved a hand towards his wand and the muggle scrubbing brush sitting beside the sink.

"What does it look like?" he asked bitterly. "I've had it, Hermione! I've had enough! I've just had to desecrate the dead bodies of two people I went to school with, put their fucking heads in a bag and drop them at the feet of the Dark Lord! I've got the fucking resistance living in my home, which pretty much makes it a certainty that I'm going to die in fucking agony as soon as He finds out, and all they can do is complain that I'm untrustworthy! Draco and I could have been… could have been anything we wanted in the new order of things, and we're trying to fucking bring it down! We're mad, Hermione! Mad! I don't want to do it anymore! I want to shut myself away with books and tea and a devoted house elf and never speak to anyone again!"

"Theo!" she said sharply, catching hold of his arms. She pulled him down on the bed beside her and put her arms around him. "Theo, shh! It's ok. Calm down." She could feel his muscles tensing and trembling as she hugged him. "It'll be ok, Theo. You're not going to die, and you're not going to turn us in to Riddle. I trust you. We need you. The others… they will learn that, Theo. You and Draco are putting your lives on the line for us, and we all know it." The words poured out of her, desperately trying to help, to soothe the pain that he was feeling.

"I'm a defected Death Eater," he said, his voice trembling. "There are no defected Death Eaters, Hermione! None!"

"I know two," she argued calmly. "And I used to know a third. And despite what everyone else believes, they are – or were - all good men. They must be. Only a good man would have stopped me jumping off the Astronomy tower. Only a good man would have stopped Ginny throwing herself in the lake. You and Draco… we all owe you so damn much, Theo! You saved us, and you're going on saving us every single day that you face down Tom Riddle and lie for us! This," she pulled his reddened arm towards her and ran her fingers over it, "This is not you! You did not choose this! You chose to work with Draco to overthrow this, you chose to open up your home to us and I am so grateful you did, Theo, because without those decisions I would never have got to know you. And now that I do know you, I am so proud to call you my friend."

"Friend?" Theo looked stunned.

"Friend," Hermione repeated firmly. "I like you, Theo. We get on well together, we enjoy the same things, I can talk to you and you follow my jumps from subject to subject, you understand advanced magic and you actually discuss it with me, rather than sneering at me like Draco… and soon, after this whole farce is over, we are going to shut ourselves away and take magical theory to ridiculous heights, and get straight Outstandings on our N.E.W.T.S, and… live our lives the way we want to." She hugged him again, and unlike the night before, he responded quickly, squeezing her tightly.

"Deal," he said, his voice shaky. "In the meantime, now that you've chased off my breakdown, we should go down to the library and put our frankly excellent researching skills to use on that plan you talked about to dump visitors in the broom cupboard. I want that, and then I am desperate for Blaise to come and visit." He grinned at her, the terrified boy lost again under the veneer of confidence, and for a moment she felt sorry that he was forced into the position he was in. But they were all forced into positions they didn't want to be in just now, and there was, she realised, nothing anyone could do about it. Theo's walls had been shored up and he would hold for a while, and that was the important thing. With that in mind, she followed him downstairs to the now deserted library and plunged into research.

Draco returned shortly before dinner and gradually the others joined him, Hermione and Theo in the library. Under the almost tangible weight of Ginny's glare, George approached them with his hand out.

"Malfoy, Nott," he began, his eyes flicking to his scowling sister and back again. "Thank you. And thank you for saving Ginny and Katie too, I… I thought they were both dead, and I'm struggling to realise they're not. My entire family are in your debt for saving our sister, and I am doubly so on Katie's behalf. Please accept my apologies for any… unpleasantness earlier today." Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Who knew a Weasley genuinely could behave like the pureblood he is?" he asked sarcastically, even as he accepted the other man's hand. Theo followed his lead.

"You will let me know what I can do for the cause?" George asked. Theo nodded, Draco not seeming inclined to reply.

"We have some ideas," Theo replied. "We'll go over them with you tomorrow." They all rose then as Miffie appeared, expecting to move to the dining room, but the elf approached Draco, tugging on her ear nervously.

"Master Draco, there is a man outside," she said quietly. It wasn't quiet enough for the sudden hush that fell in the library. Several of the occupants sat down again, though whether for comfort or out of shock Hermione wasn't sure.

"A man? What sort of a man? Who?" Draco demanded. Miffie closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating, and then she opened them, looking alarmed.

"I'm sorry, Master Draco, I is not… I is thinking I sees the man but I is seeing this one!" she gestured towards the corner where a very quiet and subdued George Weasley was watching with interest.

"Just like this one?" Hermione asked, leaning forward. Miffie nodded. A series of relieved sighs sounded from around the room.

"Miffie is sorry, she is trying again!" Draco sighed, and kneaded his forehead with his fingers.

"No, Miffie, it's ok. Go and finish preparations for dinner, and lay an extra place at the table. I suppose we should have expected this. Theo, I'll let you handle it, it's your house." Theo didn't even open his eyes from where he was seated beside Hermione, his head resting on the back of the chair.

"Weasley, why the fuck is your twin skulking about outside my house? I swear to Merlin if he tries anything I'll transfigure his balls into breadcrumbs and stake him out for the fucking seagulls."

"How about I just go and get him?" Ginny suggested practically, before another argument could break out. "It's a foregone conclusion that if we leave him out there he'll try and mount a rescue mission to save George from the nasty Death Eaters, and in the interests of not seeing more of Fred than I ever wanted to, that would not appear to be wise." Theo opened one eye lazily.

"Will you promise to make him suffer for delaying our dinner?" A grin reminiscent of Fred himself spread across Ginny's face.

"It would be my pleasure. Anyone want to watch?"

In the end, they all trooped out to the front door and stood around inside the fidelius charm while Ginny walked up to the boundary, took a deep breath and stepped through. Hermione was aware of the subtle shifts around her and realised that everyone was, as she was, ready to hex into oblivion the first person who moved and was not Fred or Ginny Weasley. Ginny, meanwhile, put her hands on her hips and glared around her.

"Frederick Gideon Weasley, if your arse is not directly in front of me in under 10 seconds I am going back inside and I will allow my colleagues to do their worst." Behind Hermione, Theo started counting quietly. He had reached eight when there was a pop, and Fred was standing in the designated spot.

"Ginny?" he asked in disbelief. She gave him a smirk that Hermione could swear she learned from Draco, and pulled her wand.

"What item of mine did you steal when I was ten?"

"Uh-oh," George murmured. His twin seemed to be having similar thoughts.

"Your diary," he admitted, cringing.

"And how did you return it?"

"Covered in 'Ginny loves Harry' graffiti."

"And who did you blame?"

"Ron," Fred said desperately. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me! Are you convinced it's me yet?" Ginny glared at him.

"You're invited to dinner. During dinner, you'll explain how you found us. Bring him in, Theo!" she added, raising her voice. Theo slipped through the crowd and obliged, ignoring Fred's dumbfounded expression when he saw him appear out of thin air beside Ginny. Mindful of George's reaction earlier in the day, Ginny took the opportunity to silence Fred before he could comment on Draco's presence, and continued to pull her now furious brother behind her as she marched to the dining room.

"Is Master ready for dinner?" Miffie asked, popping into existence.

"Yes, I think so," Draco said, considering. "New Weasley," Fred glared more at this form of address, and stopped the frantic sign language he was trying to employ with his brother and Katie, "Just so you know, you can accept Theo's hospitality and stay here, or you can be obliviated without remorse and dumped outside somewhere. Your brother accepted the first option after a fight. You make your choice now, primarily because I can't be arsed fighting at the dinner table but also because it's bloody rude."

"We need him, Fred. It pains me to say it, but this… whatever this is… is legitimate. It's not a trick, I'm sure of it." George made a face as though the words tasted unpleasant.

"I'll lift the silence, but one word against Draco or Theo and I'll throw you out myself," Ginny said firmly. Fred nodded then, as she lifted the spell, demanded,

"What is this?"

By the time he was up to speed, had decided to stay, and had shown off the prototype Apparition Tracker that he and George had been working on for the Order prior to the final battle, they had all consumed substantial amounts of food and were now investigating Miffie's Butterbeer Ice Cream curiously.

"I think it's time we branched out on the other side with our recruitment, while we plan our next hit," Draco said, changing the subject and drawing the attention of the entire table.

"Where are we going next?" Katie asked curiously.

"I think we'll hit a few more Weasley places, probably unsuccessful ones – so your parent's place, for a start, and isn't the Lovegood house down that way too?"

"Close," Ginny agreed.

"They're probably both empty, but we have to be seen to be checking them, and it's as well to be thorough. And then we'll aim to hit Shell Cottage in a week or so. In the meantime, I think one of us," he looked at Theo "Should tackle Goyle and maybe Pansy, and I think it's about time we discovered where Ministry Weasley's loyalties actually lie."

"What?" George demanded. Ginny sighed.

"Percy took the mark after the battle," she explained. George looked unsurprised, while Fred looked disappointed.

"Percy will do whatever it takes to keep going," George said with a sigh. "I sometimes wonder if he should have been a Slytherin – he's ambitious above all else."

"If he's faking his loyalty to the Dark Lord, he's a braver man than me," Theo said abruptly. Draco and Hermione exchanged a glance.

"Why? You're faking yours." Draco pointed out bluntly. "I think Weasley and I might have a word tomorrow. I can go and stomp around the ministry a bit, talk to some people, behave like a good little Death Eater and drop in on our newest recruit." Fred and George exchanged nervous glances.

"What…. What did he have to do to get marked?" George asked.

"It was a reward for his services to the Dark Lord's Ministry," Draco replied. "Don't worry, we're not all murdering rapists. The Dark Lord allows people to play to their strengths. Theo is one of his chief researchers normally, he's been pulled away from his work for this project tracking down you lot. It was probably in the back of the Dark Lord's mind that it would be more of a punishment for him that way, if he had to actually fight and kill."

"I can kill," Theo muttered, as though Draco was implying this was a character flaw.

"And you?" George asked. Draco shrugged.

"I'm one of the murdering rapists," he admitted, effectively silencing any further conversation. After a few seconds, Hermione snorted.

"Good try," she said calmly. "Miffie told me, on the day of the battle – 'Master Draco is not killing people!'. Your elf knows you." Draco shrugged again.

"OK, I'm not technically, but I'm supposed to be. Might as well play to the part. Tomorrow, I'll play it at the Ministry. I saw my father do it often enough – it's time for me to take up the reins."

She hadn't come. She hadn't come. He needed to pee. The line of moonlight crept further and further across the floor, and the aches in his cramped muscles escalated until he was ready to scream, and had to clench his teeth to stop himself. Waking the manor in the middle of the night was a sure way to collect another crucio. His stomach rumbled violently, making him feel sick. Miserable, he curled up as best he could and tried to sleep. She wasn't coming.


	9. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the dealy, and thank you for reading.**

 **9** **th** **May 1998**

 **Ministry of Magic**

The following day, Draco entered the big office on the main administrative floor of the Ministry and greeted the occupant coolly.

"Weasley," Percy Weasley, still immaculately dressed and perfectly neat from his red hair to his polished shoes, looked up with a slight, involuntary frown. Draco permitted himself an inward sigh at the transparency of Gryffindors.

"Malfoy. What can I do for you?" Draco, Ginny, Fred and George had spent many hours the previous night going over this plan, until it was burned into his memory.

"I wanted to ask you about your family. You know the Dark Lord has tasked Nott and I with hunting down the Blood Traitors, and frankly we can't remember how many of your relations we are supposed to be finding. Can you help at all?" Percy paled slightly, but clasped his hands on his desk and tried admirably to look calm.

"My parents died in the battle," he began, as though reading from a script. "Of my siblings, Bill and his wife were murdered by Voldemort immediately after the battle, you may remember. I do not know of Charlie's exact whereabouts, he was not in the country at the time of the battle. Fred, I believe, fled Hogwarts when the battle was almost over. George…" his face tightened in anger before he continued, "You know better than anyone what happened to George."

"I do," Draco confirmed, internally weighing up his options at this point. Finally, confident in his ability to Obliviate the older man if required, he continued, "The last time I saw him he was bemoaning the fact that there was no jam for his toast, and trying to convince my house elf that he needed to open another pot." Percy blinked several times.

"I beg your pardon? When was this?" Draco glanced at his watch.

"About an hour and a half ago."

"Malfoy, what…?"

"Where do your loyalties lie, Weasley?" Draco asked quietly. "Why did you take the mark? What would you do if I told you that I know where your brothers and sister are, that they are safe and at the core of the latest resistance effort?" Percy swallowed.

"Ginny? You have – you've seen – Ginny?" Draco nodded once. "You say there is a resistance forming?"

"There is. It is under my command, at the moment, with the assistance of Theodore Nott and Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Granger is dead. You killed her. I heard you tell… him."

"You believe I'd lie to you, given what I've just told you, and yet you accept what I told the Dark Lord as truth? What was I supposed to say? No, I haven't brought you the mudblood, I apparated her back to a secret room at my place and I've come back to try and convince you she died and was eaten by a giant spider?"

"And what is going to make you successful this time, when they have failed twice before?" Percy asked sceptically. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you hear me? It's under my command. Now, are you joining us? We could use a ministry insider, and frankly a Weasley on the same side as the Dark Lord is just plain wrong." Percy nodded slowly.

"I'm in," he agreed. "I took this thing," he waved his arm "Because it seemed a better idea to try and bring it down from the inside than the die valiantly to no effect. And if I've just signed my death warrant by telling you that, well, at least I've done what I can here first." Draco looked mildly impressed.

"I thought you were a Gryffindor?" he asked idly. Percy smirked.

"I was," he replied, raising the glass of water on his desk and sipping slowly. "Weasleys are always in Gryffindor. I told the Sorting Hat that."

"I don't suppose you'd consider telling me where it wanted to put you?"

"That, Mr Malfoy, would appear to be rather beside the point of the discussion." This time, Draco returned the smirk and leaned forward.

"You'll have a visitor tomorrow. He'll give you the details. I must go. Lovely talking to you, Weasley."

Nott Hall was bustling with life when Draco stepped out the floo after his day in the Ministry. Ginny Weasley was seated at the top of the cellar stairs, apparently communicating information between Fred and George – all three making more noise than Draco considered normal for polite society. His idle consideration that adding a fourth Weasley was likely to turn mayhem into chaos was interrupted when Hermione approached, her hair knotted behind her head.

"The twins have started work on a magical communication device," she reported briskly. "Ginny and I spent the morning drawing up a plan of Shell Cottage. I wanted to talk to you about it – we think we should hit it soon. How did things go with Percy?" There was a sudden silence as Ginny froze, Fred's head appeared from the cellar and George hung over the bannister. Draco took a second to appreciate it.

"All good," he said calmly. "Theo, drop in on him tomorrow, would you? And someone tell Miffie to organise an impressive dinner. Tomorrow night we entertain the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister." All three of the Weasleys present cheered, and even Hermione clapped her hands together, grinning, before returning to her point.

"Draco, about Shell Cottage…" she insisted, as they both entered the library and – thankfully – closed the door on the Weasleys.

She came back. Ron was leaning against the side of the cage now, weak from two days without food or water, when she rushed in, as always in Death Eater robes and with her mask covering her eyes, nose and cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she said, frantically casting the unlocking spells and opening the cage. He crawled out, biting his lips to stifle cries of pain at the movements in his cramped muscles. She dropped to her knees beside him, just in time to catch him as he tried to straighten up and failed. She pulled a potion from her pocket and poured it down his throat. He choked slightly, but managed to swallow it. She leaned him against the wall and moved to his legs, where she massaged the muscles until he could straighten them.

"Don't," he said weakly, as she continued.

"It's fine," she replied.

"No. Covered in… stuff. Disgusting." She shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. I'll clean you up in a minute. I'm so sorry; I couldn't get away last night." She moved away and started casting cleaning and drying charms on his clothes. Once that was finished, she sat beside him and began feeding him small pieces of bread and chicken while he slowly stretched his arms as the muscle relaxing potion began to work. "Did he crucio you again?" she asked softly. Ron nodded.

"I… made a noise… when someone reported the death of one of my brothers," he said. The Angel was silent. "There will only be me left!" he burst out, resting his head on her shoulder as he cried bitterly. "Hermione, Ginny, Ha-Harry, Neville, now George - they're all dead! Why can't he just kill me too?" The Angel wrapped her arms around him and held him while he cried. She continued holding him when the sobs subsided until he was almost asleep.

"I need to go," she whispered. He gripped her tighter.

"Please stay with me," he whimpered. She sighed, but cast some cushioning charms to make herself more comfortable and held him tighter as he slept with his head in her lap. She didn't sleep, forcing herself to stay awake while the night progressed. Shortly before dawn, she removed the hand that had been mechanically stroking his hair and shifted slightly, waking him up. He looked much better for the few hours' sleep, and barely protested as she urged him back into the cage.

"Can't you tell me who you are?" he asked desperately, as he did almost every night.

"You know I can't," the Angel replied, but with a tinge of regret in her voice. Spurred on by this, Ron tried a different approach.

"Do I know you?"

"You thought you did, once."

"Will you ever tell me?"

"I think so. When I get you out of here."

"You know how to get me out?" Ron's spirits suddenly rose with a bound, and he threw his arms around the Angel in delight. After a second, she returned the embrace, tucking her hooded head under his chin and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I don't know yet," she said, and as she made no move to pull away, Ron didn't let her go. "I think I know someone who will be able to, though. I need to make some discrete enquiries. Can you wait?"

"As long as you keep coming at night," he replied honestly. "I don't think I could go back to the way things were the first few days."

"I'll be here," she promised then she reached up and kissed his cheek. Ron drew back in shock, before lowering his face to hers and kissing her desperately, revelling in the contact and the warmth. "You've been so brave," she whispered, drawing away. "I can't believe how well you're handling this. You're… oh, this is not supposed to happen. I was only supposed to be helping you, because I felt so bad for you. Not… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have… I have to go." Reluctantly, Ron let her go and crawled back into the cage, settling into his accustomed position with his long legs folded up so that his knees were on either side of his face. The Angel didn't say anything else other than locking the cage and performing some hasty charms to clean up any mess before she rushed out.


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the delay. This was a tough chapter to write. Be warned.**

 **10** **th** **May 1998**

Ginny had tears in her eyes as she stared at Percy, standing beside Draco and Theo and wearing Death Eater robes. George put an arm around her. Fred sank into the nearest chair, and said,

"Fuck, Perce…"

"Ready?" Draco asked. The other two nodded grimly, and they stepped into the floo.

"Draco! You're late!" Narcissa Malfoy descended on them as soon as they arrived at Malfoy Manor, ushering them away from the fireplace and brushing ash off Draco's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Mother," he replied automatically. "As you can see, I'm here now. Have you met Percy Weasley? He's been assisting Theo and I with our new task."

"Charmed," Narcissa said, as Percy bowed properly over her hand.

"Thank you for the invite, Mrs Malfoy," he said. She nodded.

"Draco, I need you," she said calmly. "Your friends should go and meet the other guests." They disappeared, leaving Theo to lead the way into the big ballroom which was busy with guests.

"Just hang back and don't talk to anyone unless you have to," he said, nervously. Percy straightened his robes.

"I know," he said, calmly. "Calm down. It will be fine. We're not here for a trial, after all." Theo laughed nervously.

"A trial would be fun compared to this," he said.

A few hours later, Percy was beginning to agree. Draco hadn't been seen again after their arrival, and he and Theo had been joined at their table by Goyle, looking worried, and then by Marcus Flint, who nodded to them both in greeting.

"Show's about to start," he said calmly. "Keep an eye out for that little bitch that got away from me in Diagon Alley – did you find her, Theo?"

"Not yet," Theo replied. Marcus shrugged.

"I guess someone else might have brought her in. Oh – here they come!" To Percy's horror, a line of partially dressed women was led in from elsewhere in the house, looking terrified. Marcus rose to his feet, clapping and cheering with most of the rest of the room. Theo's fingers tightened on his glass until his knuckles went white, but he leaned back and watched calmly as the first woman was brought forward. Percy forced himself to imitate him.

In a remarkably short time, all the women had been claimed by cheering Death Eaters led out – Percy presumed to the bedrooms upstairs. Those remaining turned to card games and more glasses of firewhiskey, the noise level rising continually. Theo had been pulled into a nearby game, and Percy sat back and watched, swirling the firewhiskey in the glass he was holding and taking the occasional sip. Quite some time passed, and Percy began to relax, becoming aware that he was likely to escape this with minimal damage. He relaxed too soon.

"Weasley! Nott!" Marcus Flint, distinctly more intoxicated than the last time they'd seen him, dropped back into an empty chair. "Go and enjoy yourselves! Come on, Weasley, this is your first revel! Fucking good one to start with, and on the subject of fucking, get upstairs already! You're missing all the entertainment! I know Nott is a fucking poof, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out. Come on!" Powerless to resist the bigger man, Percy found himself being dragged out of the room, exchanging a look with Theo as he went. Marcus propelled him up the main staircase, selected a door, a pulled it open.

"Fucking hot, this one! Go on, Weasley!" He shoved Percy hard between his shoulder blades, sending him careening forward into the room, and slammed the door behind him. Percy took a few hesitant steps forward to where a girl lay on the bed, naked and terrified, held by a body bind curse. Percy first silenced the room and then released her, trying very hard not to stare.

"Cover yourself up," he said briefly. Hesitantly, she pulled a sheet to her chin, her arms trembling. "What's your name?" he asked. She swallowed nervously.

"Audrey," she muttered. Percy sat down in a chair near the bed, trying to ignore the blood stains that were visible on the sheet and the bruises on her pale skin.

"Are you a witch?" he asked practically. She nodded. "I'm…"

"Percy Weasley," she said, surprisingly. "Sorry. Sorry, please don't hurt me." Percy shook his head.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said patiently. "Are you injured?" She blushed and nodded, a tear running down her cheek. Percy made an instinctive decision – the sort of decision that was normally attributed to his brothers.

"Lie down," he said quietly. "Lie still and quiet and close your eyes." Briskly, he cast several illusion spells and then threw the door back open again. "Flint!" he yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor. "Flint, this one is a corpse, for crying out loud!" Marcus appeared from the next room, his trousers unfastened.

"No luck," he grinned. "Didn't think I was that rough with her. Oh well, get a house elf to get rid of it then, you can always try another." Percy feigned irritation, and re-entered the room. Briskly, he crossed over to the bed and scooped up the trembling girl. Holding Audrey in his arms and praying that his Dark Mark allowed him to bypass the Malfoy wards, he apparated them both away.

"Where are we? What are you doing?" Audrey sounded panicked and Percy shushed her gently.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Just rest." He walked briskly until he found what he was looking for, and then managed to wriggle his wand free.

"Revelio," he said firmly. Nothing happened, and he groaned. Gently, he lowered Audrey to the floor and tried again, cutting his hand and allowing a few drops of blood to drip onto the ground. "Revelio Weasley," he said again, and sighed with relief when the cottage shimmered into view. He picked Audrey up again and carried her inside, lying her on the sofa and looking around desperately.

"Fleur, I love you," he muttered, catching sight of a variety of neatly labelled healing potions on the table. Rolling up his sleeves, he set to work.

After Percy had been pulled away, Theo wasted no more time at the revel. He apparated straight back to the corridor outside his bedroom and let himself in, unobserved. He closed his bedroom door behind him, tossed his mask away, and pulled the sharply tailored black robes over his head, letting them fall to the floor. His hands went to his belt when a voice behind him observed,

"I do hope you're not going to leave those there for Miffie to pick up." Theo, conditioned by an evening with the Death Eaters, refrained from jumping, but turned slowly to face Hermione where she sat on his window seat.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"I came to see if you were ok," she said. "You were… upset before, I wanted to make sure that it hadn't happened again."

"You should go," Theo said. Hermione frowned.

"Why?" He took a deep breath.

"Because I'm drunk, and I've spent the night in a house where multiple women were raped and tortured. I shouldn't be near you just now."

"Do you want to be alone?" Hermione asked. He hesitated, and then shook his head.

"No. I'm a bit pathetic like that." She smiled.

"You're not pathetic. I'll close my eyes until you get into bed, go on."


End file.
